


Masterpiece

by HeathenVampires



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Age Difference, Art teacher Valka, Discussion of stillbirth, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluffy and fun the rest of the time, Honestly super fluffy, No Incest, Student Hiccup, Talk of past trauma, Teacher-Student Relationship, Unrelated Valcup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-28 21:21:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 30,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13912443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeathenVampires/pseuds/HeathenVampires
Summary: From one artist to another... they can work together to make a masterpiece.





	1. Chapter 1

**A little unrelated Valcup for those who are on the fence for how amazing Valcup is because of the incest.**

**Or alternatively, simply because this prompt calls for them to not be related.**

**At this rate I'll write a hot for teacher for all the ships - Valka is Hiccup's college teacher!**

-HTTYD-

The art teacher strolled up and down the front of an airy, messy classroom teeming with sunshine and paintings and doodles. Hiccup followed her every move avidly, utterly transfixed by the goddess before him. Much as he had been since the start of the year for the college class he took.

"Today I thought we'd do a freestyle. Any style you like, any colours or shapes that inspire you. It just simply has to show something  _magical."_

Hiccup could watch Valka talk about art forever. Her eyes lit up, hands constantly gesturing wildly and she seemed to almost vibrate with excitement. Tuff, the other side of Eret who sat next to him, raised his hand.

"Like what? Magical what?"

"Whatever you like Tuffnut. Magical building. Magical creature. Hel, a magical  _sunset_  if that stirs your embers. Whatever the magic is in you."

Tuff stared blankly at their Art teacher, then seemed to have a 'eureka' moment and practically face planted his paper in his haste to start drawing. Eret stared at his boyfriend, bemused, then turned to Hiccup with a grin.

"Let me guess.  _You're_ going to do - wait for it - another dragon!"

Hiccup glared, wondering if Eret would mind being stabbed with a pencil. He opted against it - it was his favourite sketching pencil, he didn't want to damage it.

"How long do we have Val?"

Someone else asked - Valka answered to both Valka and Val - and she smiled.

"It's a week long project, today I just want to see a start, to see you have your idea."

Hiccup tapped his pencil on the paper, making a series of dots. It was true, he often did dragons for 'pick your subject' projects, but since Eret called him out Hiccup decided to go in another direction. The idea flowed as he sketched, an extinct volcano that had blown out the entire left side of its rock face taking shape. Then he filled the broken rock with thick shards of ice, sharp and spiky on the outside but soft and safe within the volcano.

"Ok, what the Thor is that you've drawn H?"

Halfway through drawing some kind of flaming squirrel, Tuff leant over Eret's flying rhino to eyeball Hiccup's sketch.

"It's a Dragon Sanctuary. Made out of  _magical_  ice their fire won't melt."

Tuff pouted in confusion, then pretended to be utterly absorbed in his work as Valka made her rounds. If Hiccup appreciated the view of her ass when she was bending across desks to check work, or the way her paint-splattered button up shirt hugged firm breasts... well, he was using an artists eye to do so.

"That's... a very interesting idea Tuff. And yours is an interesting mismatch Eret, I like the contrast."

Hiccup's heart quickened at the smell of clay, paint and wildflowers that seemed to cling to Valka like glue, her hand brushing his shoulder as she gripped the back of his chair for leverage to lean across and look at his work.

"Not to push, but have you decided on colours yet Hiccup?"

Trying to think about something other than how Valka would look as a naked canvas, Hiccup nodded and hoped nobody noticed him stealing a glimpse of the hinted cleavage through an open button.

"Well it's all ice and snow, so there'll be frosty blues and cool greens. Maybe some darker tones for the rocks to contrast."

Valka smiled widely at him, fingers brushing his back again as she straightened up.

"Sounds excellent. I'm intrigued to see the end result."

As she practically floated away on mile-long legs Hiccup wanted to see wrapping around his hips, Eret shook his head and chuckled.

"You got it bad teachers pet."

"She can pet me any day. What would you know anyway? You're gayer than Tuff, and he practically emits rainbows."

"I do?"

Eret shook his head again, twisting to give Valka the once over surreptitiously.

"I can look at a menu I don't order from you know. But still, she's the teacher my dude."

"You tell me this every lesson."

"Well, you don't seem to be listening."

"Shove off."

Rolling his eyes, Eret started packing his supplies together as they prepared to leave for other classes.

"I'm sure you intend to loiter and make up something to talk to her about, plus we have different classes next. So I'll catch you later dork."

Hiccup glared at his dear best friend who was a royal pain in the neck, acting like Hiccup was  _so_  predictable... even if he was totally right. Hiccup always lingered, wanting to talk to Valka one on one. In his head there was much less talking and much more messy, frantic groping but still.

"Hiccup? Everything alright?"

"Oh, yeah. I just wondered if you had another class next?"

Valka raised an eyebrow.

"I don't, but you already knew that from asking before. Did you want to stay and work?"

"Kinda. It's just the student studios are always so busy."

It was a terrible excuse and Valka knew it, but Hiccup wouldn't be persisting if he didn't think she was interested in him too. With those gentle strokes on his back, how her buttons always seemed to come loose between Heather's table and then Hiccup's. With her soft smiles, her eyes lingering on his when they caught each other across the room and how much more playful and banterous her language was when it was only the two of them...

Yeah, Hiccup was pretty sure the attraction was mutual.

"Then by all means, work."

Hiccup smiled, picking up his end-of-year project carefully from the cupboard and taking it over to his table. Valka was humming to herself now, dancing slightly as she touched up a painting on the classroom wall that was starting to flake. Breeze blocks didn't hold art perfectly.

She had actually inspired much of his end of year project - it was two dragons, Toothless and Cloudjumper, resting upon a rock together. It was meant to display a mix of techniques - a clay sculpture painstakingly shaped, smoothed and put together. Then it would be painted. The textures of his dragons scales required endless hours of work on fine detail.

The Cloudjumper dragon had been inspired by his art teacher, her lithe grace and energetic movement conjuring images of exactly how he wanted the dragon to look. The more he focused on her to inspire the dragon further... the more Hiccup realised how badly he  _wanted_  her. In every possible way, but mostly splayed across a messy table for him to memorize by sight and by touch like an intricate masterpiece.

Shaping the individual scales on just one part of Cloudjumper's tail would take him much of the ninety minutes he had before Valka would chivvy him out before her next class. And that wasn't including time he spent distracted by flirting awkwardly with his teacher. She bantered right back, smirk teasing at the edge of her mouth.

Hiccup looked at his implement and realised it was insufficient for the task, twisting in his seat to see Valka organising the shelf of exactly what he needed. It was too perfect an opportunity to waste. He kept his footsteps light to ensure she didn't hear him and turn too soon, and by the time he was right behind her it was an inescapable situation.

He didn't touch her. Just leant past her to reach for something. Both of them were tall; Valka was a dot taller but Hiccup could live with that. She tensed when she realised Hiccup was  _so_  close, clearly debating how insane an idea it was to turn around. Hiccup closed his fingers around the tool he had come over for, pulling it from the shelf.

"Got it."

Valka shuddered lightly as his words traced across her skin, close as they were. He took a monumental leap of faith, practically shoved off the cliffs edge by his lust as he placed a hand on Valka's waist. She didn't react immediately, but Hiccup saw as she turned herself around just enough for him to see her face.

"Hiccup..."

"Tell me to stop" Hiccup found himself leaning closer, found himself with his chest to her back and the hand on her waist wrapping around more securely "and I will."

Valka leant back against him for just a minute and it was  _divine,_  but then she was pushing his arm away and turning around to face him.

"Stop."

It wouldn't take much. Only centimetres separated their lips. Hiccup almost leant in, certain that if he did Valka would reciprocate.

But she had said stop. So he stopped.

Turned and went back to his table with his newly acquired tool, slowly working each individual scale into his dragons tail. Valka didn't ask him to leave, but she didn't really look at him either. For that second though, as she melted into his chest and twisted in his arms.. Hiccup had been completely certain she wanted him too.

* * *

Sweet Odin, she had almost caved. To a  _student._

Hiccup had far too great of an effect on her. It was outrageous she be so attracted to one of her students. And yet when Hiccup flirted and gave her those smiles that made her knees weak, Valka matched them. His eyes followed her around the room, raked down her body like she was an erotic art display and darkened with want whenever Valka brushed her fingers across his shoulder or back when she leaned close.

Before scolding herself for encouraging him.

He started hanging back after the classes she was free after, working on their years project under the guise of saying the open-to-all students art studio was always busy. The guise failed when he started chatting, making clear as day to both why he was there but neither ever mentioned it.

She still shook whenever she remembered his most...  _forward_ question that barely held up to the scrutiny of an artists interest in a subject.

_"So Valka, have you ever done it?"_

_Fighting not to act scandalized at such an **inappropriate**  question, especially from someone she wanted to do many inappropriate things to, she played dumb._

_"Done what Hiccup?"_

_His lopsided smirk was visible, eyes flicking up from where he was shaping a dragons wing._

_"Life modelling. I'd pay you to model for me."_

_"Hiccup!"_

_He played innocent, though his molten gaze was **anything**  but._

_"What? From one artist to another, you have a unique shape. Not many women stand at a good six three."_

_The thoughts in her head were not very artistic at all. More a serious concern for her self control._

_"Well, thank you. But mind yourself, it wouldn't do to be overheard saying such things."_

_"That's fair. But you didn't answer my question. Have you?"_

It had triggered a recurring daydream of hers ever since, though the images mostly went to what would happen after he was done drawing. When she went to him, his favoured charcoal smudged over his face and fingers. It would leave tell-tale marks on her skin where he touched, on her hands when she cupped his face to kiss that maddeningly attractive mouth.

Oh, he  _knew_  she wanted him too. Gods, did she want. He pushed boundaries without ever totally overstepping - unless she counted him undressing her with his eyes on a regular basis. Valka watched him turn back to his work, shaping each tiny dragon scale one by one with his choppy, messy hair hanging in his eyes. Odin forgive her, Valka wanted to bury her hands in that thick mop and never let go.

When she felt him press against her back, hand on her waist and breath hot on her neck, Valka very nearly broke and kissed him. Where the willpower came from to say 'stop', she would never know. But thankfully, Hiccup respected that. Moved away. Went back to his work. Left her with a racing pulse and an unmistakable sense of disappointment.

The acknowledgement followed by rejection made Hiccup change his behaviour; he transferred his dragon sculpture to the students studio, stopped staying behind just to talk to her like he used to. He still looked at her, but when she caught him looking Hiccup looked away rather than smirk and smile. He tensed when her hand touched his back once; she didn't let it happen again.

Valka realised, with a slightly horrified thrill, that she  _missed_ him. And she couldn't tell him. She was the one who drew the line, Hiccup was the one respectfully staying on the right side of it. Even his friend Eret must have noticed something was up; Valka had seen him give Valka searching looks when he thought she couldn't see, trying to work out what was causing Hiccup's muted attitude.

His 'Dragon Sanctuary' painting had still turned out utterly  _gorgeous,_  his skill with angles and shadows meaning it practically seemed to come off the page in three dimensions. Valka touched a hand to where it hung on the display, tracing the icy shards and half-expecting to feel the sharp edges prick her fingers.

"Oh."

The voice was immediately recognisable, and sure enough when she turned around Hiccup was stood at the top of the two little steps that led down into her classroom.

"What's wrong?"

"You're normally... doesn't matter. I forgot my pencil."

His favourite pencil - Valka had watched him treat it like an extra limb - resided on the desk he had been sat at. She hadn't even noticed he forgot it, too inappropriately distracted by his new jeans. Slim on his legs and in a particularly pleasant shade of emerald.

"You don't work in here anymore."

Valka didn't mean to say that aloud. It just sort of slipped out of her mouth. Hiccup frowned, not looking at her as he picked up the pencil with stiff fingers.

"I realised I had overstepped my boundaries and I didn't wish to make you more uncomfortable."

She bit back a sigh - she knew Hiccup had been upset by her saying stop, and it was terrible of her to miss him so.

"You didn't."

"Clearly, I did. Or you wouldn't have said... it doesn't matter. I have to go."

It  _clearly_  mattered to him. It definitely mattered to her. Hiccup hesitated for only a minute, a tentative hope that Valka would stop him leaving. She wanted to. She just couldn't find the words. Hiccup took her silence as a cue, turned and left.

Valka wanted to go after him. What was  _wrong_ with her? Why did he have to be both irresistible  _and_ her student? Oh, it would be so easy to let go, to cave in and taste that tempting mouth, to map his body as she so ached to do.

But it would also be suicide for her job, and Valka  _loved_ teaching. Her job wasn't worth her infatuation with an attractive man half her age. He was barely out of boyhood for Thor's sake. She was terrible for even wanting him. Pacing up and down the classroom, Valka had to almost physically restrain herself from going after Hiccup, bringing him back to her classroom and kissing him until she forgot her own name.

Hiccup didn't come back until his next class, and Valka found it increasingly difficult not to touch him even a little. He'd gotten a hair cut, nothing huge but the choppy ends of his hair looked sharper, more appealing than before. Hiccup could feel her eyes on him, judging by the way he kept looking up from his 'machinery' drawing that showed a half-built motorcycle. The attention to detail on each part was incredible... Valka knew she wasn't supposed to play favourites, but Hiccup's art really was wasted on her small college class.

He lingered after, explaining nothing to the questioning looks of his best friend. Eret left with his partner, who as ever noticed nothing amiss besides the campus cat strolling past the door, which he promptly charged after.

"Is everything alright Hiccup?"

He nodded, expression solemn and eyes not quite meeting hers.

"I finished my end of year project. Just wondered if I could turn it in early."

"Of course, but there was no rush."

He shrugged, twisting the pencil in his hand.

"My father disagrees. I have the project for my Engineering class he wants to see more effort on. I'll bring it next class."

Hiccup looked at her for just a second and Valka shivered slightly under the intensity, heat and anticipation curling in her belly.

"Are you ok?"

"Come here?"

He'd stayed the other end of the room to her, but at Valka's whispered question his long legs closed the distance in seconds. With her height, it was uncommon to find someone who could look her in the eye as he did. His eyes were beautiful.

"Why are you fighting this?"

His fingers brushed her bare forearms, slid up to wrap around them just below her elbows. She let him, the warmth of his hands soaking into her skin.

"You know why."

The attraction between them was magnetic, drawing them closer to each other.

"So don't get caught."

He was so close his words almost vibrated across her lips. Valka felt his fingers tighten on her arms.

"This is madness."

"Then stop me."

She'd denied him once. Valka wasn't strong enough to do it again. His mouth pressed to hers at last, hands leaving her arms to land on her waist. Valka let her hands find their way into his hair, stroking the silken strands as he pulled her closer still, thrilling when she  _felt_  him press against her thigh.

"Hey!"

The sudden voice broke the two apart guiltily, Hiccup turning to see Eret standing there. Valka couldn't bring herself to look at the student who caught them, ashamed of herself for caving as much as she  _wasn't_ for the action itself. Her mouth still tingled

"What?"

Eret frowned at his friends curt word.

"Don't 'what' me. If I'd been literally  _anybody_ else you would both be getting kicked out of the college you idiot."

Hiccup sighed, nodding.

"I know. Sorry. What did you come back for?"

"You. Idiot. Your bike is in the shop remember? I'm driving you home."

Hiccup turned, looked at Valka then back at Eret.

"Give me a minute?"

 _"One._  I'll be outside the door."

The second Eret turned away to leave, Hiccup's lips meshed against Valka's again and threatening her ability to stand up straight.

"Eret's spending the weekend at Tuff's. Come over?"

He didn't waste time. Valka  _tried_ to argue, but her lacking conviction was all too obvious as she stammered.

"I-I don't-"

"You know as much as I do that neither of us can fight this anymore. It's my place or here and one is safer than the other."

He was terribly, terribly right. Valka  _would_ have had him there in the classroom where they could have been caught so easily. And how much they had talked, shared their lives back when he spent his free time with her was clear - Hiccup hadn't suggested Valka's place, knowing that currently her mother was staying with her while her own was having work done.

"Alright."

His answering smirk almost had Valka leaping on him. Gods he was beautiful.

"You better bring an overnight bag."

"Oh?"

Hiccup's fingers dug into her waist, just a little.

"I'll let you use your imagination. I better go before Eret comes back to yell at me" Hiccup kissed her again, ending it far too soon for her liking "he'll be gone by midday Saturday."

Then he was gone, tempting body heat leaving with him and Valka shivered with its loss. He turned back at the doorway, eyes dragging down her body with blatant lust in his gaze. As he left, her shaking legs protested holding her up and Valka leant back against the wall, one hand across her rapidly beating heart.

 _What_ had she just agreed to?

-HTTYD-

**Valcup for everyone! *sails onward on ship***


	2. Chapter 2

**I feel this is expected by now but... beyond here will be smut!**

-HTTYD-

"If you're doing what I  _think_  you're doing, I really think its a bad idea."

Hiccup glared at his roommate, who was checking his overnight bag for going to his boyfriends house.

"Good job I didn't ask what you thought."

"Come on H, I'm trying not to judge here. Anyone else would turn you guys in! But... I just think it's a bad idea."

He sighed, knowing Eret was right - he was, in his own weird way, being  _almost_ supportive. But Hiccup was trying to straighten out their flat so it wasn't a total mess when Valka came over.  _If_ she came over... he knew there was a chance she would bottle it and not show with time to think.

Toothless wasn't helping in the tidying, eagerly following Hiccup around and wagging his tail in confused excitement about the energy going into tidying.

"Go away you furry pest. Eret, will you sort him?"

"That depends."

"On?"

Eret grinned.

"On whether or not you'll make me dinner tonight."

Having expected him to say 'don't fuck the teacher', Hiccup nodded.

"Is that all? Deal."

"Excellent. Come on Toothless, lets go for a run."

Eret changed into his running gear, grabbed the dogs lead and collar and left, allowing Hiccup to rush around cleaning everything. He even vacuumed, knowing it was nearly pointless as Toothless would just shed over everything. He loved his dog, but the animal was a messy little nightmare.

When Eret got back, sweaty and panting in time with the dog, he looked toward the kitchen hopefully.

"Calm down, I only just finished cleaning. Go shower, and don't leave your clothes on the floor."

"Yes sir! Gods, you would think she was coming over for a tour of the building not an illicit romp."

Hiccup rolled his eyes, giving the living room a once over as Toothless noisily drank from his water bowl, then slumped on his bed exhausted.

"I think she may still want to use the bathroom you muttonhead."

Eret left for the bathroom, so Hiccup went to the kitchen and hauled ingredients from the fridge. Eret  _could_ cook, but he was lazy and did whatever he could to wheedle Hiccup into doing it for him. If it reduced Eret's complaining about inviting Valka over, he would take it.

"Oh man, that smells amazing."

Compliments reached his ears as Eret strolled out in loose shorts, towelling roughly at his hair. He never had it down, which often made Hiccup question why the man grew it long in the first place but since his own hair touched his shoulders, he supposed he couldn't argue.

"It's just herbs and chicken. You alright with salad on the side? I can toss a garlic bread in the oven if you want more substance."

"Yep!"

The two sat down to eat on trays in front of the TV, rooms walls covered in both their artwork - it wasn't often Hiccup met someone who was both into engines and drawing. Eret was a rare find and a great friend. They had distinctly different styles - Eret loved to drawl owls and Hiccup dragons. Hiccup's work was mostly either sketchy lines or charcoal, while Eret favoured oil pastels or acrylic paints.

The manager of their flat even gave them part of the garage space to work on their car and bike in return for being the buildings handymen - Hiccup was a mechanics whizz, Eret more hands on with helping fix broken doors and the like.

"So are you seriously gonna do this? I mean, I get that she's easy on the eye and a good laugh, but..."

"But what?"

Hiccup dragged his garlic bread through the leftover sauce on his place, chewing it as Eret formulated an answer.

"She's a teacher. She's old enough to be your mother, and she could lose her job over this."

"Only if someone finds out. And I don't care how old she is, why would I?"

"Eh. Suppose you're right, and she really doesn't look her age."

Tossing the last bit of chicken to Toothless and sending him back to his doggy bed with it, Hiccup took a swig from the bottle of beer accompanying his dinner.

"I know you don't approve, but all I'm asking is that you not tell anyone. I'm not asking you to accept it or condone it."

"That's fair I guess. Your business is your business. Just... for the love of Thor, be discreet about this. I don't want to see either of you tossed out of college for this. She's a great teacher and you're my best friend."

"You think I  **want**  to cost her her job?"

"No, but I don't think you're necessarily thinking  _clearly_ when it comes to her."

Hiccup grit his teeth and conceded Eret's point. Valka did tend to steal true rationality from him with startling ease. He struggled to sleep that night, tossing and turning in freshly changed sheets as antipaction zinged under his skin. Eret left earlier than usual the next morning after taking Toothless for his morning jog, which gave Hiccup time to run to the shop for a few things - main thing being condoms as he discovered he'd ran out.

Then he came back and checked there were clean towels in the bathroom - Valka struck him as a morning shower type - and he put the bottles of flavoured water she could often be seen drinking from in the fridge. He showered, shaved and dressed comfortably. Satisfied he was as prepared as he could be, Hiccup checked his watch and saw he had at least an hour to kill.

Naturally, he sat down to draw. Charcoal smudged across the page just the way he liked it, giving otherwise solid, defined lines a hazy, almost mysterious feel.

"Look buddy, its you if you were a dragon."

He held the doodle out to Toothless, then heard an unfamiliar car pull up outside. Hiccup recognised every vehicle that lived in the building by now, peering out to see a cutesy orange and blue ride outside. Yep, he recognised it from the college parking lot. He had better go down and get her to park it round the side so it was less conspicuous.

"Hey Toothless, come meet my new friend."

The dog pattered alongside Hiccup down the stairs, well behaved enough he didn't need a leash just to go down to the front of the building. Valka was still sat in her car when Hiccup got down there, possibly having an existential crisis about whether or not to go have sex with her student. He approached her car, nerves vanished at the sight of her and Toothless followed, jumping up to the window to drool in her general direction. She rolled down the window and Toothless almost climbed in, held only by Hiccup's hand on his collar.

"And who's this?"

"This would be Toothless, my dog. I just came to tell you you ought to park around the other side, its out of view of the main roads then."

He appreciated how utterly pivotal their discretion was, the care they ought to take not to be caught out and she nodded, waiting for him to pull Toothless away before driving around to the safer zone. He and Toothless waited patiently, Valka eventually coming around after probably debating just leaving altogether.

"He's gorgeous! Can I?"

Typically, the woman was more taken with his dog than him at that minute. Toothless lapped up the attention and Hiccup decided it was worth it to see her smile like that.

"You coming?"

Valka's cheeks flushed at Hiccup's intentional double entendre, an unspoken message of  _you will be_ laced into his words. He opened the building door, whistling for Toothless to get his furry butt in and Valka followed. His heart thundered with the realisation she was actually  _there,_ that it was really going to happen.

"This is me. Eret's gone, promise."

"Does he know?"

Hiccup could have lied to her, but somehow it didn't seem fair to. As he opened the door to his little homestead, he nodded.

"Yeah, he knows. I swear he wouldn't say anything. Not even to Tuff."

The door closed behind her. He watched nerves cross her face, fingers tightening on the strap of her bag. Her  _overnight_ bag. She was intending to spend the night.

"Are you sure?"

"I trust my best friend not to get me kicked out of college. He said he didn't want you gone either, since you're a good teacher. Drink? I got your water in the fridge."

"You got me water?"

Hiccup shrugged.

"I had to run to the store anyway since I realised I was out of condoms. Saw them, figured you would appreciate a drink when I decide to let you out of bed."

She was still nervous about their illicit dynamic, but the playful woman within was beginning to show as she took a bottle from Hiccup, smiling to herself as she picked off the sealed plastic cap

"Awful sure of yourself aren't you?"

"You're here aren't you?"

Her mouth quirked before she took a swallow of water. Hiccup watched avidly at the stretch of her neck; even her  _neck_ was beautiful. From a strictly artistic point of view, he told himself, her neck would look even better with several imprints of his teeth, bruising her in an exquisite reminder of the night to come.

"You have charcoal on your face."

"I was drawing before you got here."

"May I see?"

"Want to put your bag in my room first?"

Valka nodded, eyes absorbing his rooms decoration - equal parts doodles, dragons and glossy magazine photos of motorcycles stuck over almost every inch of wall space available. His desk was a little cluttered but mostly organised.

"Drawings are this way. Bathrooms there if you need it."

He took her hand and led her to the living room, big doe eyes widening as she took in yet more drawings. Dozens of bits of paper plastered in owls and dragons and whatever else struck them right.

"Eret's are the owls and pastels and painting. Mine are the line work, dragons and charcoal. And that's Tuff's corner. We just sort of go with it."

She chuckled to herself at the bizarre scribbles that stuck out almost as much as Tuffnut did against the others, slowly revolving in the centre of the room to take it all in.

"These are wonderful. Which did you draw today?"

"This one" he leant over to the drawing desk in there "but it's a bit of a rush job."

"It's wonderful. The crouching position, the way you convey a wariness with only a two dimensional image... you really are  _so_ talented Hiccup."

He smiled, touched by the heartfelt compliment.

"Thank you. Does that mean you'll let me draw you now?"

"Behave."

His mouth tipped up in a smirk.

"Bit past that now aren't we?"

Valka put the drawing down, then reached to the buttons of her light jacket. Hiccup felt daft for not taking it off her already, reaching to help.

"Here, let me."

His fingers brushed the side of her neck, slid along the side of her hair braid - he was taking that out and seeing her hair down if it was the last thing he ever did - as he helped the jacket down her slender arms, leaving her in brown cotton bottoms and a soft yellow tunic-style shirt that came just past her hips.

He had to move away regretfully to hang up her jacket on the coat rack, but when he returned Valka had clearly found her nerve again, reaching out to cup his jaw and even being the one to initiate a soft, exploring kiss. Ohhh, he already adored her mouth. She seemed taken with something of his too - his hair. He remembered her touching it the day before, and now her hands were winding into it again as his curled around her lower back, pulled her closer.

"Much as I would love to just have you here" Hiccup managed to speak as they came apart for air "Eret would go mad. Bed?"

Valka nodded, breath hot against his lips as she breathed heavily. He grasped her hand, pulling her to his bedroom. He made sure the door was closed so Toothless wouldn't invite himself in. They didn't actually make it to the bed before they were kissing again, mattress pressing into the dip between calf and knee as Valka invaded his mouth with her tongue. He was dizzy with arousal already, and they weren't even undressing each other yet.

"Gods" she bit his jaw between kissing and breathing "I shouldn't want you so much."

Hiccup was torn between turning his head to let her bite his neck and turning hers so he could kiss her again. She made the choice for him, teeth raking over his throat and biting down teasingly. She could probably taste the way it made his pulse race.

"Hey, I'm not complaining."

She shoved him backwards, (hopefully) knowing the bed was right behind him before she crawled up his body to kiss him again. Not to be outdone, Hiccup managed to roll them - she was surprisinglystrong and resisted somewhat - and pin her, committing the sight of her flushed and breathless against his bedsheets to memory. If he only had one night, Hiccup wanted all the memories he could get, as many to recall as possible. Her cheekbones caught the midday sun flawlessly, though they didn't  _need_  highlighting.

"Something wrong?"

Valka grew impatient with his scrutiny, wriggling slightly beneath him.

"You're fucking gorgeous, you know that?"

Her cheeks reddened slightly, something telling him Valka didn't get nearly enough reminding of her beauty. He saw her avert her eyes from his, suddenly shy.

"I'm not sure I agree, but thank you."

"When you let me draw you, you'll see."

She shook her head, though there was amusement dancing in her eyes.

"Not happening."

"Why?"

"Too risky. There can't be... evidence."

Hiccup conceded her point and shelved his artistic craving for the moment, focusing on a far more base craving for her mouth against his own, her skin beneath his hands. Valka hummed against his lips when Hiccup kissed her again, arching and gasping when his hands slipped under her top to explore the soft plane of her belly.

He felt Valka tense when his fingers touched something it took a moment to recognise - there were the faint ridges of stretch marks on her stomach.  _Only_ her stomach. He felt her hips and the dip between chest and abdomen, finding no more there. He knew what that likely meant, but Valka's eyes begged him not to ask.

So Hiccup didn't.

"Scars don't bother me, if you're worried."

He reassured her without addressing it directly, and her tension eased somewhat. Hiccup lifted the material, baring her skin and seeing the marks were faded white with age. He forced himself not to look too long, didn't want Valka feeling over-scrutinised. She sat up to help him strip her, careful not to catch anything on her hair.

"Will you let your hair down for me?"

Eyes struggling to meet his for a second as he traced fingers over her bare torso, Valka quizzed in return.

"Figuratively or literally?"

"Both."

She hesitated for a second, then nudged him from on top of her and rolled on to her front.

"It'll be easier if you do it."

Hiccup wasn't about to complain, taking out the thick scrunchie at the base of her braid; it was so long it literally reached her  _waist._ Then he carefully seperated the twists, working his way up toward her scalp. Valka moaned softly when he reached her scalp, arching when Hiccup rubbed circles with his fingers over the sensitive spots. Since he had the access, Hiccup brushed her hair to one side, then grinned to himself and unclasped her bra.

Valka took the cue and rolled back over, an utter fucking masterpiece with her thick hair an autumnal river on his bed and her upper body totally bare when he pulled her bra away. She moved to cross her arms self consciously; Hiccup pinned her hands before she could.

"Don't you dare try and hide from me."

She resisted, pushed against his restraining grip.

"I... I'm not a young woman anymore."

He growled, unhappy she felt the need to worry about such a thing

"I don't  _want_ a young woman. I want  _you._ "

Hiccup thrust his swollen erection against her hip as proof, letting one hand go as a test and feeling better when she didn't move to cover herself. He slid a hand along her scarred belly, reaching and cupping a soft, heavy breast in his hand. Valka gripped at his hair again, kissing him greedily and he happily indulged. The way she whimpered against his lips when he rubbed her nipple with his thumb was incredibly satisfying, almost indecently erotic.

When her hands scrabbled against his lower back, tugging at his t-shirt Hiccup let her, watched her face as she lifted it up along his body until she saw  _them._

"What happened to you?"

Hiccup shook his head, pulling the material over his head and tossing it aside.

"Later."

She accepted that, hand running over his scars as they kissed again and Hiccup felt the previously unshakeable concern she would be put off by his scars fade away, leaving only heat in its wake as they rolled and tussled on the bed. Valka managed to win the next fight, pinning Hiccup down by his shoulders while he was transfixed by the way her hair caught the sun as it fell to one side. His erection was demanding relief by that point, seeking the body of the goddess above him.

"Naked. Let me see you."

Valka shied at first, but Hiccup was immensely gratified to see that she stood - much as he missed the feel of her against him - and reached for the double button fastening of her trousers, lowered the zipper to her raptured audience of one. He stayed there on the bed, jeans taut and strained against his swollen cock where she could  _absolutely_  tell she aroused him so.

Her trousers fell, exposing  _miles_ of pale, freckled legs that seemed to go on forever. He found himself smiling at the somewhat youthful style of her underwear, purple 'boyshorts' that hugged her hips and hid where thigh met body. Oh, she was as aroused as he; Hiccup could  _smell_  her, mouth hungry to taste and surged up, gripped her and twisted her back to the bed.

His lips roamed her ravaged stomach in a silent show of acceptance for her scars before he nuzzled at a thigh, licked teasingly at her already-wet underwear and Valka bucked, squealed in surprise.

"Y-you don't have to-"

"Do you  _want_ me to?"

Valka bit her lip, bare chest heaving wonderfully. Hiccup waited; if it made her uncomfortable he would stop.

" _Gods_ yes."

"Excellent, because I'm dying to."

He tugged the elastic down with his hands, his teeth in his haste to have her bare and there were red lines left by his nails on her thigh by the time he had her underwear off. Valka was trembling with anticipation by the time he reached her hips again, spreading slim thighs with his hands and looking up at her tense face.

"Fucking beautiful."

Hiccup wasn't totally sure he meant to say that aloud, but it was out now and Valka seemed to receive the compliment well enough. The scent of her arousal was dizzying, the taste of her enough to make his cock ache in his jeans as he dragged his tongue over heated flesh.

Valka was  _so_ responsive Hiccup couldn't quite believe it. She moaned and cursed, hooking a thigh over his shoulder to allow her better leverage to ride his tongue. When Hiccup suckled gently at her clit Valka reached down to tug at his hair, other hand leaving its death grip on his quilt to grip her own breast, pinching at a nipple and Hiccup had to stop to stare hungrily.

She whined in protest when his tongue stilled, thrusting against his mouth needily until Hiccup resumed his attentions. Gods, she was perfect like this, wanton and desperate with shyness a distant memory. Hiccup pressed a finger inside her, groaning with how slick her quivering muscles were around him and sliding another inside her with ease.

She coiled tighter around him, moans higher and hungrier now and Hiccup knew she was close, ignored his tongue starting to ache and hooked his fingers up to drag over her g-spot until he was rewarded with violent thrashing and the feel of her spasming and tightening on his fingers. Soundless moans left her parted lips, throaty whimpers the only sound escaping until Valka fell lax upon the bed.

"Gods that was... incredible."

Hiccup slowly untangled her fingers from his hair, licked his lips and hastily wiped his hands on his jeans, slid up along her body and Valka launched herself at his sticky mouth with no hesitation for the mess there. Her shaking thighs tightened around his, hand fumbling between them to grapple with his jeans.

"Off!"

Valka growled, impatient as they resisted her attempts to undo them. Hiccup had to pry her thighs off him, backed up and unbuttoned, unzipped and finagled his bottoms over his pulsing cock.

"You are  _divine_  when you come, do you know that?"

Valka chuckled, soft with afterglow and less resisting of his words than before.

"You don't have to charm me you know, I'm already here."

Hiccup grinned, leaning to his bedside table for the condoms he bought earlier. Valka eyed his erection, whether assuring herself it meant he was wanting or simply wanting to look at his cock he didn't know. Either way he didn't mind.

"Not my intention. Just letting you know before I forget how to speak."

The condom box landed somewhere on the bed as Hiccup kicked his jeans away, eager to feel her bare skin on his own. Their scars touched as they did, but neither paid them mind. Hiccup ran a hand through her hair, enjoying her soft moans and the way she clutched at his in return. Her gentling soon turned rougher, teeth almost nicking his lower lip as she bit at his mouth.

"Fuck me!"

Who was he to deny a beautiful lady? Hiccup had to hunt for the discarded box to retrieve a condom, rolling it down his length as Valka shifted to get more comfortable against his pillows. He quite liked how at ease she already was there. Thighs sticky with sweat and arousal slid fluidly up over his hips, resting there and angled her better to take him.

He watched Valka react to his cock pressing inside her, a moments tension at the initial pressure melting away as her eyes closed and her lips parted. The sun still shining through the windows gave her pale skin a golden glow, casting shadows over her prominent cheekbones. His hips came flush with hers, fitting neatly between slender thighs and Valka's hands raked down his narrow torso, feathered over scars almost as though they weren't even there.

"You alright?"

"Mmm" Valka shifted slightly, adjusting herself "you're bigger than I expected."

Hiccup found himself chuckling slightly, supposing that was a compliment folded within another - she had expected smaller and come to his bed regardless.

"You don't have to charm me you know, I'm already here."

Valka swatted lazily at his chest, lips pursing into a pout as he used her own words against her.

"I'm beginning to forget why at the minute."

Hiccup let the playful joke seemingly slide, opting instead to place a hand on her breast and squeeze lightly. Her pout slid away as her breath hitched, watching as Hiccup braced a hand against the bed while his other stayed to toy with a hardened nipple as he  _finally_  thrust.

_Gods_  Valka felt incredible, hot and wet and soft and welcoming on every thrust, responding wantonly to each motion. Her hips rolled to meet him as she found her rhythm, reaching to clutch Hiccup's shoulders, his back, anything to give her purchase as he fucked her. He leant down to taste her tempting lips again, kisses turning lazy, sloppy as they gasped for breath between exhalations of pleasure.

His name fell from her lips repeatedly, stammered as her voice caught on moans and cut off when he bit lightly at her collarbone, tearing a whine from her throat. Hiccup licked the sweat from her neck, felt her squirm at the odd sensation. Needing her to come soon before he lost his fucking  _mind,_  Hiccup leant back on his knees and pulled her legs higher, shifting the angle his thrusts made again and every stroke of his cock made Valka emit half-choked sobs of pleasure.

Releasing her tormented breast, Hiccup let his fingers trail over marked skin, slipping over sweat-damp skin to press against her clit and Valka convulsed beneath him, nails scraping down his chest while her other hand crushed sheets between her fingers. One, two, three more thrusts and Valka shattered, back arching to a point that should have been painful, crying out in a way that probably would have made him come were he not already teetering on the edge anyway.

_How_  she kept moving even after she came, giving Hiccup that precious last push to join her in the heights of bliss was beyond him, but any thought quickly became too much for his trembling body to sustain. His hips stuttered slowly to a stop, elbows struggling to bear his weight as he rested atop her without crushing her. Valka soothed hands over his sweaty back, tipped her head to kiss him as they came down together.

Hiccup reached down to hold the condom, pulling out of Valka against his body's protests to stay buried within and rolled onto his back with a smile so wide his cheeks hurt.

" _Damn_ we waited way too long for that. Well, I did. Was that alright for you?"

"Mhmm" Valka stretched luxuriously next to him, lithe and cat-like and gods-damn gorgeous "fantastic. Worth the wait."

He chuckled at her lazy joy, moving only to toss the condom before flopping back ungracefully on his bed.

"Assuming you aren't already worn out" Valka smacked his sweaty chest again "ok I'll take that as a resounding  _no,_ would you care for a drink and a snack while I recharge."

"And here was me thinking you and your youthful vigour meant you went non-stop."

Hiccup stuck his tongue out petulantly, pushing himself into a seated position.

"Oh I could  _definitely_  keep going" he twisted to touch her bare skin again "but I don't want you wearing out just yet. We've got until tomorrow after all."

Neither discussed anything beyond it as they got up, Valka sliding his dressing gown over her naked body while Hiccup only bothered to put boxers on. She headed for the bathroom and Hiccup the kitchen, plying Toothless with a rawhide dog chew to distract him for more than a minute while raiding the fridge. Valka's water bottle still sat on the table, so he didn't get a fresh one out for her as he perused the fridge.

Arms wrapped around his waist, plush breasts pressing against his back and Valka's chin rested upon his shoulder. He'd never been little-spooned before. He rather liked it.

"Sweet or savoury? I made fudge brownies yesterday."

"You bake?"

"I like cooking. Eret cooks too, but he's also a lazy shit and bugs me to cook at every available opportunity. Like yesterday."

"Because of me?"

Valka was tracing his scars lightly, raising goosebumps on his skin as she followed them where they spidered around from his upper back to lower stomach, faded and stretched by aging and growth spurts.

"Indirectly. I asked him to deal with Toothless so I could tidy up without him following me. He likes to feel involved."

They sat down with water and brownie squares, Valka happy to practically sit in his lap despite ample space on the sofa. He wasn't complaining. Valka bit into the sweet treat, letting out an indecent sound of pleasure that had Hiccup's cock struggling against natures refractory period already.

"My gods Hiccup, these are amazing!"

Distracted by her nearly-orgasmic moans, Hiccup took a minute to register she was speaking.

"Oh. Thank you."

He ate a couple himself, having exerted himself quite a bit since his late breakfast and he didn't want a rumbling stomach interrupting them when he took Valka back to his bed. They were heavy, moreish and almost too sweet, but he'd used more dark chocolate than usual to take the edge off and was left with a rich, almost bitter sweetness. The contrast was pleasing.

Hiccup excused himself to the bathroom before an erection made it impossible, taking stock of his torso after relieving his bladder and washing his hands, face and mouth. There were faint bruises, livid scratches and his usual pattern of scars. He looked pretty well fucked already... and that was after only  _once._

Valka brought her water bottle back to his room that time, indicating she had no intentions of leaving his bed anytime soon and Hiccup followed suit, seeing her logic quite well. They took their time learning more of each others bodies now shyness and immediate urgency had both taken backseats. Valka whimpered so sweetly with his mouth on her breasts, body breaking out in goosebumps when he delicately stroked her sides.

In return, Hiccup gasped and shook as she smirked up from where she was licking his cock, twisted and writhed as Valka took him in her mouth. She discovered quickly he liked his nipples bitten rather roughly and Hiccup was a shuddering wreck by the time Valka took mercy on him and reached for another condom.

Although, given how unbelievably perfect Valka looked as she seated herself on his cock, then leant forward until her breasts pressed to his chest... maybe it was fresh and pleasant torture rather than a mercy.

Valka fucked herself in long, slow movements, grinding her hips against his over and over until Hiccup was breathless, near-delirious. He rolled them to try and stave off his climax, keeping the slow, measured thrusts and burying his hands as deep within Valka's hair as he could.

As Hiccup moved his hips, felt her respond, he realised the only downfall of them finally giving in to their need for the other.

Now every time he looked at her teaching, every time he listened to her talk... he would ve remembering  _this._ How Valka looked as she came, a heady state to simply witness her in - being the cause even more intoxicating. He would remember how she moaned, how she begged for more and whispered his name.

Her nails broke skin where they clutched at his back, curling into his body and melting in place beneath him as she came with less fireworks but more intensity. Or maybe that was just him, nerves alight with electric pleasure but little noise actually left his mouth between ragged, panting breaths.

"M'sorry. Scratched you."

Valka stroked his back, found specks of blood.

"I didn't mind."

A quick stop for water was all the time they really took before they came together again, Valka climbing into his lap and rocking herself on his cock while Hiccup covered every inch of her chest with his mouth. His hands slipped and gripped tighter at her lower back, exploring the dip at the bottom of her spine until he cupped her pert backside, squeezing gently and moving her to his rhythm until she smacked his hand away, danced to her own beat against him again.

Both bore bruises by the time they separated, his fingers on her hips and her teeth on his chest. His bed was completely trashed, highlighted by the last of the sun before it started to dip below the horizon.

"I don't know about you" Hiccup stretched, feeling aches in muscles he didn't know he  _had_ "but I'm starving."

Valka hummed, still drawn to the scars she didn't know the story of.

"I could eat."

" I would suggest going out, but that may be a tad conspicuous. I can cook."

A playful smile stole across her face.

"Nothing too heavy. I don't want you falling asleep before I'm done with you."

Hiccup couldn't help chuckling; she had started out worried about her age and now here she was, quite confident in her assertion she could keep up with her youthful lover. He rather liked the change, liked how she wasn't trying to cover up now as they laid nude next to each other.

"Light dinner it is then."

It was all a little bit...  _domestic,_ Hiccup mused as he cooked while Valka perused the DVD collection. The break was needed if they were to refuel, digest and wring the most they could out of this stolen weekend, but the comfortable companionship was more natural and welcome than he had expected it to be.

Even so... Hiccup dare not hope for more than that night. He didn't want to be ruthlessly disappointed.

-HTTYD-

**Oh look I'm failing to stick to attempted chapter control.**

**This one got way out of hand.**

 


	3. Chapter 3

**is the unrelated Valcup a hit? TELL ME THESE THINGS PEOPLE.**

-HTTYD-

"Is it later yet?"

Valka had asked him when she first saw them, but Hiccup didn't want to talk about it at that moment. He'd respected her wish not to discuss her own scars, so she felt she at least owed him the same.

But now it was the morning after the night before, and a night of Hiccup spooned against her back, warm and  _there_ in a way Valka hadn't experienced for far too long had led to lazy spooning morning sex. It left them sleepy and satisfied in the soft light of dawn.

"Your hair is up again."

"I can't really sleep with it down. Especially not with someone else, you might sleep on it and I'll be trapped if I needed the bathroom."

Hiccup growled sleepily, more like a slightly irate cat than a threatening bear. Despite that, his speech was mostly clear and coherent.

"Damn you making sense. Are you going to tell me?" his fingers brushed her stomach "it's totally ok if not, and I'll tell you mine anyway. I just wanted to know if my curiosity will be sated."

Valka bit her lip where he couldn't see, debating.

"I can't. Not... not now."

"That's ok" Hiccup pressed a kiss to her shoulder, nuzzled at her before cooing an apology for the rasp of morning stubble "you don't have to. We should get up... I'll shower, then the bathroom is all yours while I take Toothless out."

Hiccup kissed her cheek, her neck, her collarbone before cruelly sliding from the bed and leaving Valka alone there. She shuddered inwardly at the thought of him finding out.. of the brutal reminders she was so much  _older_  than him, with heavy emotional baggage and a past most twenty year olds wouldn't understand.

Especially when this was only a one off. Well, a one weekend-off. There had been considerably more than 'one' encounter. Valka was sore, aching in a way very specific to a lack of intimacy for the last few years followed by repeated, energetic sex with an athletic twenty year old man who seemingly could not get enough of her.

She was more agile than she remembered, or realised, judging by the way Hiccup had no trouble literally bending her to his whims and wants. Sensitive in places she didn't remember ever discovering. Amazed by his constant desire to focus solely on her pleasure rather than his own, or at least both of them.

Hiccup returned to his bedroom some fifteen minutes later, hair damp as he rubbed roughly at it with a towel and water running down his bare chest to leave wet spots along the waistband of his shorts.

"There's fresh towels on the rack, and if you want you can use my shower stuff. Which is anything in the bathroom, Eret took his with him. Take all the time you want, I'm gonna take that idiot for a jog around the block."

He leant down and pecked a kiss on her lips, minty toothpaste the dominant flavour on his. He sat on the edge of the bed to put on running shoes, and Valka lamented the loss as he tugged on a t-shirt.

"Should you have bothered showering?"

"Eret says that, but I'm not really going to sweat. It's cool this hour and Toothless isn't very fast, it's more a quick walk than a jog. I don't like  _running."_

If Hiccup suspected Valka was hiding herself now the distraction of burning arousal wasn't there to override shyness, he didn't say anything. He headed out and left her quite alone in his home, whistling to his dog who could be heard scampering along the hallway to his owner before the door closed. Valka reached for her overnight bag - Hiccup hadn't been kidding, she was in  **no** state to go home last night - and headed for the bathroom after tying Hiccup's dressing gown around herself.

It smelled like Hiccup; his shower gel and shampoo were the prominent scents in the air and despite having her own, Valka decided she was using his. She relieved her bladder and brushed her teeth first, then slid the dressing gown from her body again and caught sight of herself in the mirror. Hiccup hadn't been so liberal with his teeth as she had; Valka didn't know she was a biter before him, but she bore marks of the night before all the same.

The shower was hot, cleansing and relaxed her sore muscles. A knock at the door made her startle, pulling the shower curtain across herself defensively.

"Valka? I'm not coming in, just letting you know I have a hairdryer if you decide to wash your hair. Toothless and I will be in the kitchen when you're ready."

That gave her carte blanche to wash her hair with his shampoo, monumental an effort as it was to do so but since she reeked of sex, it was probably the sensible thing to do. Her mother would be suspicious enough. Twisting the biggest towel around her masses of hair, she once again entertained visions of cutting it all off. She never would, not after all the years growing it after... she shook the thoughts away.

The hairdryer rested on Hiccup's bed, a brightly coloured post-it note indicating where she should plug it in. After wringing all the moisture she could out, Valka ran the hair dryer over until it was only slightly damp before braiding it back up. A few loose strands escaped, but that was par for the course. She put on her clean dress and light leggings, checking none of the evidence of Hiccup lingered there.

"So milady" Hiccup was sipping from a mug with a dragon on it... Valka sensed a theme "what would you like to do for breakfast? I can cook. There's fruit. I know your curiosity is burning, but it's not mealtime chatter. So, food first. Tea? Coffee?"

"Oh, tea please. And I would normally have something small for breakfast, but rarely am I quite so hungry in the morning."

Hiccup grinned as he made her tea, his good mood quite solid as he gave her outfit an appreciative look.

"That'll be the workout of taking a lover half your age. If it makes you feel better, I'm sore in places I didn't know I had."

The way he spoke said Hiccup truly wasn't concerned by their age difference, and given his rampant behaviour the night before, Valka supposed she couldn't argue that it was a front. His broad smile compounded as he placed down a mug, then pulled her to her feet and kissed her soundly. Valka let him but tried to stay coherent; she really was worn out.

"Eret will call before he heads back, if you're worried."

Hiccup sensed her tension, soothing a thumb over her cheek as he looked at her.

"Oh no, it's not that. I'm just..."

"Worn out? You can say it. I am too."

He was so at ease. Calm and relaxed and Valka did her best to emulate.

"Yes."

He chuckled, then kissed her again.

"I'm happy to do nothing more than feed you, but gods I love your mouth."

She found herself smiling again, watching him putter around the kitchen while she sat to drink her tea. Toothless flopped his head on her leg, seeking some attention and she happily petted the animal.

"Mutiny this is. I bring a girl over and Toothless just can't to move in on her."

"I'm no girl."

Hiccup smirked, his intense gaze making her feel suddenly bare.

"Oh believe me, I got that."

Hiccup made them bacon and eggs, perfectly cooked and seasoned wonderfully. He watched her reaction, grinning when Valka hummed in pleasure at the taste. He cooked, baked, fucked and drew well. He would make some girl very happy. Some girl his own age with less history, and perhaps more energy.

"You've been a terrible distraction."

He stood, taking her cleared plate and clicking the kettle on again to make fresh tea.

"I can't say I'm sorry for that... did you have something else to do this weekend?"

"I was supposed to take my car to get looked at."

Valka had completely forgotten about it, so drunk on need for this young man.

"What's wrong with it?"

"No idea. Machinery is not my area of expertise, it makes a strange noise."

Hiccup dispensed water into mugs, humming to himself.

"I can take a look. I rebuilt my dads old bike from scratch, help Eret with his car too. My bikes only in the shop because dad insisted on doing its annual check up."

"I don't want to impose-"

"I wouldn't have offered if it was an imposition. Drink your tea, I'll get my overalls."

"Is there anything you  _don't_ do?"

Hiccup hummed in thought, scratching his clean-shaven jaw.

"I can't sing. Or dance. And despite my brawny physique" he flexed his lean muscles jokingly "I'm no worlds strongest man. Eret's always trying to get me to the gym."

He left and reappeared in red overalls, though they were more black than red now with oil. They didn't smell terribly strong, so she suspected they had been recently cleaned.

"Keys?"

Handing her car keys over to Hiccup was a little surreal, following him down to the vehicle with a furry companion. She couldn't help but look around, wary. Hiccup noticed, reassured her.

"Nobody but building tenants use this side. I don't want to risk anything either. But I'm going to move this inside anyway. Just make sure Toothless doesn't go wandering."

Hiccup started the car, slowly eased it into the building car lot - it was enclosed save for one open side, someone would have to be at the front entrance to see her.

"Yeah, that's not a happy engine."

Toothless dropped where she sat, showing no signs of going anywhere as Hiccup popped her hood open and turned on a big, bright light. He chattered to himself as he looked, giving Valka a really rather excellent view of his pert bottom as he bent over.

"It's very good I took a look, you shouldn't have been driving this."

"What's wrong?"

"You need a new fan belt and brake pads. Both things I can do here and now, luckily."

She had no real idea what Hiccup was talking about, watching him tinker and pull out things he then replaced from a huge cabinet that rattled when he opened it. He was giving up his time and using parts to fix it, making her feel she should settle some debt.

"I should repay you-"

Hiccup waved an oily hand, shaking his head.

"I will not hear of it. It's  _my_  fault you didn't go to a mechanic already. Any problems, let me know and I'll have my dad look at it but I'm pretty sure those were the only issues. I've changed your oil and checked your radiator too."

"Is that good?"

He laughed, wiping oil smears away with a clearly designated cloth, then clicked the hood back into place and circled to start the car again. Admittedly, her engine sounded a whole lot better after Hiccup applied the same dexterity and attention to detail she so loved in his art work to her car.

"There we go. One happy trucker. I better go get cleaned up, hang tight for a minute."

He disappeared into a side room, the sound of water running through old pipes reaching her ears as he presumably scrubbed oil from his hands and face. He came out in his previous clothes, though they were damp with sweat from exertion and probably water - his hands and face were pink but clean.

"Mechanics soap sucks but damn it does the job. Are you anxious to leave or do you still want the uh" he gestured at his side "story?"

She  _should_ leave, but Valka wanted both to thank him and hear the story. She gestured back toward his building, and Hiccup smiled as he led her back. Toothless was just happy to be involved it seemed, cantering next to them and barreling excitedly up the stairs.

"Did someone hurt you?"

Hiccup nodded, hands tense as he busied himself with more hot drinks, then peeled off his sweaty t-shirt and tossed it into a wash basket by the machine in the kitchen.

" I'm just gonna get it all out at once, you can run or ask questions after?" she nodded and Hiccup continued "My mother died in childbirth. My father died when I was five, car accident. I was sent to live with uncle Alvin, who was a bad bad man. He was a drunk, violent, but the only family I had left. Anyway, one day he got  _very_  drunk, decided he was bored of me and after the usual beating, he threw me through a broken window. He broke it throwing empty beer bottles at me a couple of days before."

Valka couldn't help but gasp in shock, hand covering her mouth as Hiccup recounted this horrific tale, all whilst making tea like he was fine. He continued, obviously needing to get it all out now she'd let him open the mental wounds.

" I curled up to protect my head, which is why the scars are nearly all on the one side. Some passing stranger found me, took me to hospital. I was so traumatised I couldn't talk, so I wrote and drew everything for the police. Bounced around foster care and therapy for a while, met Eret in one of the better children's homes. Then I got adopted when I was nine. My dad Stoick is a good guy, wanted to adopt Eret too but they found him a family. Eret's mom is a wonderfully mad woman."

"My gods Hiccup..."

She couldn't help it, standing and wrapping him in a tight hug. He trembled in her arms, not quite looking at her.

"It's ok if you wanna run. It's a pretty heavy story."

"I don't want to  _run_  you daft boy."

"I feel like I shouldn't have told you. It's not a story I often share. I don't usually show my scars to people so readily."

Valka could relate quite well. She'd not had sex with the lights on since her divorce... not until Hiccup.

"Neither do I."

He turned, embraced her properly and they stood just clutching each other there in the kitchen for several minutes.

"She was stillborn."

"What?"

Hiccup hadn't expected her to speak, couldn't immediately process what she said. He pulled back, looking at her face but not forcing her to meet his eye.

"My daughter. She was stillborn. It was what ended my marriage."

He frowned, stroking the side of her jaw.

"Did he  _leave_ you for that?"

Valka nodded, ashamed of her body's failure.

"We tried for years, and I finally fell pregnant but she... she died at 8 months."

"My gods, I'm so sorry Valka."

He kissed her temple, pulled her back to the sofa where they could hold each other properly, comfort each other through the stories of scars. Valka let him, feeling horribly exposed for sharing her shame and yet it was cathartic all the same.

"Thank you for telling me. I know it wasn't easy."

Hiccup murmured the words against her hair, stroking gently along the side of her neck with his thumb until she had all but melted into his chest.

"You know it's not your fault right?"

Scrunching her eyes up against tears, Valka shook her head.

"It felt like it was. It still does."

He slid fingers under her chin, turned Valka to look at him.

"I've been there. I blamed myself for my mother dying for  _years,_  but sometimes bad things just happen. And that's nobodies fault."

Hiccup had such a young, innocent face but gods he was wise beyond his years, aged by traumas and losses no child should ever have had to go through. And yet he was sweet and caring, soothing her even though he'd opened his own wounds up too.

"Oh. And your ex husband is a total and utter shit. I don't know whether I want to thump him or thank him."

"Thank him?"

A short smile tipped the side of his mouth up.

"For being stupid enough to let you go. Somehow I doubt last night would have happened if you were still married."

Valka felt a laugh bubble up in her chest at him acting like he had a one track mind, as though either could say their connection was solely about sex at that point.

"I'm not sure I wouldn't have left him eventually anyway. He wasn't the easiest man in the world to love."

"How come?"

For all her certainty Hiccup didn't want to hear all this, he couldn't have looked more attentive and interested in what she was saying.

"He was very mercurial. Had very stringent ideas about how marriage should be, and at the time I believed it and did what I felt a wife should do. I know now that was nonsense, that things he did weren't right... he always made me cut my hair. I've not cut it since we divorced except to remove split ends."

"That's amazing. Not that he was a tool of the highest order, but that you've literally outgrown him. I love your hair, why the Hel did he want you to cut it?"

Hiccup ran his fingers through the loose strands at the side, almost shaking his head in disbelief of her ex husband.

"Because long hair sheds. I've no doubt you'll be finding my hair in your room for days to come."

"I look forward to it. That's such a nonsense reason though... it sounds more like he just wanted to control you. And  _that_  is madness, trying to suppress all" he gestured at Valka " _this._ Did he feel emasculated by your height too?"

"Do you?"

"Not at all. You have  _no_  idea how distracting your legs are for me though."

"Behave, you."

He grinned.

"Never. That's why you like me."

His cheeky demeanour was only one of an increasing number of reasons Valka found herself irredeemably taken with this young man - her  _student_ \- although it had been the initial attraction, his humour and complete lack of propriety when he first started coming on to her.

"So. What happens now?"

Valka hated how insecure her voice sounded, but she couldn't suppress the question any longer. Hiccup's lower lip jutted out in thought, formulating an answer slowly.

"What do  _you_  want to happen? This again? For us to settle on a one off and go back to our not-quite-professional relationship at college? Do you want time to think about it?"

"Why is it up to me?"

"Because... it's not  _my_ job that's on the line here. If I get kicked out of college my dad will yell and congratulate me in one breath for seducing a teacher, then send me somewhere else to train an engineer. It wouldn't be the end of the world for me, but you clearly adore your job."

Even now, he was all forethought and caring. Valka wasn't quite sure how to cope with it.

"My mother is going to visit friends next weekend."

Hiccup's brow creased in confusion.

"Are you going with her?"

"No. I thought, maybe..."

Gods she must sound pathetic and desperate, all but begging him to come to her bed like some needy, lonely divorcee.

"Is that an invitation?"

"If you want it to be."

Hiccup lit up, looked thrilled.

"Just try and keep me away. That actually works since I think Tuff is staying here next weekend. So I couldn't invite you over again anyway without telling him about it. Not that I think Tuff would notice much until I locked you in my bedroom."

That somewhat settled, the two lapsed into a strangely comfortable silence, enjoying the others presence and company. Or at least, Valka was. Hiccup may well be growing bored of being used like a giant pillow. He didn't  _seem_ to mind, face serene as his fingers played idly with her hair.

"Can I ask you something personal?"

Hiccup eventually spoke, and Valka eyed him warily.

"Well that depends on what it is."

"Was your husband the last person you had sex with?"

Immediately concerned she'd been a disappointment in bed despite Hiccup's seemingly genuine (and repeated) enjoyment, Valka shook her head.

"No, why?"

"I was just checking. I'd have felt a bit guilty for the... energetic night if that was your first time in like ten years."

Relieved, Valka shifted to lie more fully on his chest and Hiccup welcomed her there.

"Oh, no. I have  _dated_  since then. But the last time I had a lover in their twenties was when  _I_ was in my twenties."

Hiccup lapsed into silence again, then came back with another question.

"How come you didn't try again?"

Valka almost didn't answer, but after he had been so honest with her, then so understanding, she couldn't seem to stop herself.

"It was too raw by the time we split. After that I just... I never felt like I was ready to try again with any of my boyfriends. And now... I'm too old anyway."

"Says who? I mean, assuming everything down there is still ticking you have time right?"

He was earnest, almost daring Valka to say she was too old again against his refuting.

"I'm a thirty seven year old divorcee Hiccup, I've accepted my time is passed."

He huffed, shaking his head.

"It really hasn't. Gods Valka, you're a vibrant woman with so much to show the world. Don't let silly labels of age and divorce dictate the next fifty years of your life."

"Fifty?"

"Hey, you're in fantastic shape for a woman approaching forty. Hel, you're in great shape for a woman approaching  _thirty..._  I've had girlfriends my own age who couldn't have kept up last night. You're seeing age as this big thing when it doesn't have to be."

Valka couldn't even argue that he didn't know, that he was too young to understand the world but Hiccup was old before his time and yet he resonated with a joy for living most wouldn't have come out of his childhood with.

"Look, I'm not saying you need to decide right now that marriage and kids are on the cards for you, but don't drop yourself in the discard pile. And while you're thinking about it, I am more than happy to be your toyboy lover in a torrid affair who occasionally reminds you not to settle for less happiness than you deserve. Deal?"

Head spinning slightly, Valka nodded.

"Deal."

When Eret called to say he would be home soon, Valka knew she shouldn't stay regardless of Eret's awareness of the situation. After several lingering, long-lasting kisses that threatened to become more repeatedly, despite both of them being exhausted, Hiccup walked her down with Toothless on his leash to go for a walk.

"Hiccup?"

She slid into her car, looking up at him from her seat.

"Yeah?"

"Tomorrow..."

"We act normal. I know. No sweat."

He threw her a smile, tapped the roof of her car in a very American-TV style goodbye gesture, then headed off toward some trees that grass could be glimpsed through with his dog. Valka pulled out of the garage, still in disbelief at the last twenty four hours or so.

She had slept with a  _student._ No matter what happened from there on, her professionalism was irreparably damaged in her own mind.

And yet she felt no guilt for it. Hiccup had been  _exactly_ what she needed. The end of a  _long_  dry spell, with a considerate and skilled lover. His youthful exuberance slowly dusted away the cobwebs of drudge in her mind, and his calm composure holding her steady when she opened up about her lost child, her failed marriage.

Valka felt a little raw, wrung out but  _gods_ had she needed that weekend. Plus, he had even fixed her car for nothing but her gratitude. It ran smoothly and with no ominous sounds, taking her away from the forbidden fruit she'd sampled quite a few times yesterday and well into the early hours of the morning. Her own home was a rather welcome sight to recuperate, recharge and definitely mentally admonish herself into behaving properly the next day.

_After_ she got past her mother.

"And where have you been all night young lady?"

Rama stood at barely five foot six, so Valka towered over her tiny mother but the aging woman still had a glare that could melt steel.

"Mother, I am quite grown up and quite entitled to spending a night out without your permission."

"Mhmm. Out sowing your wild oats were you? Don't deny it! I can smell mens products on you."

Gods the woman was like a bloodhound. Valka let herself past and dropped her overnight bag to the kitchen table, then fell into a seat.

"Yes mother, I was with a man last night. It might shock you to know some people have sex outside of marriage."

Rama tsked, hitting the switch on the kettle before turning away. Valka could see her tiny shoulders shake with suppressed laughter.

"So, how was he? Going by the smile on your face, good?"

The pretense of disapproval over - it was a sort of game they'd developed when Valka was a young woman venturing into courtships, where they'd be serious and severe for her lovely but old-fashioned father only to have a proper mother-daughter talk later - Valka nodded, careful of what she said but knowing her mother wanted details.

"Fantastic. Quite possibly the best ever."

Sitting opposite and pushing a mug of fruit tea across the table, Rama leant in eagerly.

"Tell me everything."

Valka gave her mother a very carefully measured amount of information about her night, only hinting that her lover was younger without confirming anything.

"Are you seeing him again? Surely if he's  _this_ good you must!"

"Perhaps. I've not decided yet. I don't want him to get the wrong idea."

"That's my girl. Thinking ahead. Well you know I'll be away Friday til Monday, don't hesitate to have a little fun!"

Valka couldn't help but be amused by her mother essentially describing her daughters actual plan. She didn't think asking Hiccup to stay two nights would be a hard sell, although Valka felt it would take at least a week for them to recover afterwards given the energy to be expended.

The next day at college, she was undeniably nervous to see him. Eret only gave a fraction of a hint he knew what had transpired, glancing between the two as though he could see the heat that practically sparked between she and Hiccup. Hiccup, to his credit, didn't act any differently. He smiled at her, discreetly checked her out and got on with his work.

A box sat on the desk in front of him, which she knew contained his early completion end-of-year project for her class. It was an excellent and perfectly acceptable reason for him to linger after class, though Eret did too.

"Five minutes, then I'm coming in and dragging you away no matter what you're doing."

She felt a little bad for Eret, who obviously had mixed feelings about enabling their tryst but when Hiccup watched his friend leave before invading her personal space quite nicely, Valka shamefully forgot about Eret.

"Was this on purpose?"

His fingers brushed the soft material of her skirt, velvety and fluid on her skin.

"Is what?"

"I tell you your legs distract me, you come in the next day in this practically  _illegal_ skirt?"

Quite definitely caught out, Valka felt her cheeks warm. Hiccup placed a hand on one, kissed her soundly.

"I didn't ask before... Friday or Saturday?"

"How do you feel about both?"

His eyes darkened, breath hitching as his fingers dug into the small of her back.

"I better eat my vegetables. What's your kitchen like?"

Bemused by the odd question, she shrugged as best she could while holding Hiccups biceps in her hands.

"It's... normal? Why?"

"Because I'm going to cook for you. You get so excited it's like foreplay."

"You don't have to-"

Hiccup placed a finger on her lips, silencing her.

"If you don't want me to, say so. Otherwise assume my words indicate a want. I want to."

Nodding, she kissed his finger and Hiccup smiled.

"Oh right. Art."

He stepped away and Valka almost dragged him back, still pleasantly sore but seriously considering a juvenile fumble in the supply room. Loping gracefully back to his table, he lifted the lid off his box to reveal the completed sculpture.

"Oh Hiccup, that's exquisite!"

"I didn't do Toothless with full scales because I wanted him to seem all shadowy, but I gave him patches of them where my dog likes to be fussed. Cloudjumper here has scales all over, because he's kind of a bird and they are meant to look like feathers kinda?"

Valka almost dare not lift it for a closer look, so fine were even the tiniest details. It was truly incredible, the shapes so perfect she almost expected them to move, to take flight.

"Never let it be said I didn't earn my grades. I better go before Eret comes back."

Hiccup kissed her again, then all but skipped off and left her with his work. It was an incredible project for anyone, and Valka felt a shiver at the thought of how the same talented fingers that made the sculpture had wrung mind-numbing pleasure from her body time and time again. A messy head reappeared around the door, grinning.

"Valka?" she looked up at him, questioning him with her expression "I do like the skirt."

With that, he vanished again and she couldn't keep the giddy smile off her face. Hiccup just had a knack for making her feel...  _better._ About herself and in general. She looked at the calendar on her desk, cursing at how far away Friday felt. The red dot on the Thursday after reminded Valka she ought to forewarn Hiccup it was a week she'd be out of action.

Gods, what was wrong with her? One night together and she was already planning multiple future ones. Granted, it was inevitable Hiccup learn of her cycle if they were to continue even only for a month.

She sat down, mindful of the sculpture and placed it carefully on her desk before running a hand over her tired face. The truth was... Hiccup was young. World-weary in some ways, perhaps, but he had gone to great lengths to both reassure her and describe their 'relationship' in quite casual terms. He could easily bore of her. Lose interest as she visibly aged. She ought to just enjoy what was happening for a while.

It wasn't as though she was in danger of developing feelings for him.

Valka spent much of the week shooing away her mothers queries about whether or not she would have company when the house was empty, which only made Rama more suspicious every time Valka cleaned something. She was exceptionally glad to drop the nosy bat... ah, her mother off at the coach station that morning on her way to work.

"Use protection!"

Were her mothers parting words, and Valka shook her head as she drove off. No matter how old their children got, parents never stopped being embarrassing. Hiccup was antsy in class, shifting in his seat with dark eyes and tense fingers. His drawing was sharper, angrier. A sign of repressed emotions and Valka had a good guess what emotions he was trying to tamp down.

Eret often gave them a time limit before he would fetch Hiccup, but nobody could really say anything as Tuffnut opted to sit strangely on top of a table, knees up to his shoulders in an awkward crouch. Eret approached his boyfriend, tapped his arm.

"Tuff, what are you doing?"

"I'm seeing what it's like to be a cat. Except I don't have a tail! Damn!"

Rather than wait for Tuff's personal experiment to be over, Hiccup simply looked over at her with the obvious question of "are we still on for tonight?" in his face. She nodded. He winked, eyes dipping down to her skirt of choice that day before helping Eret manhandle a meowing Tuff out of the room. He was a peculiar one, the Thorston boy.

Hiccup wasn't coming over immediately after college, so Valka had time to go home, shower and fret about if her house was tidy enough.

_He's not coming here to see your house woman!_

Her bedsheets, bathroom and kitchen were all clean. She was clean. She'd had the truly surreal experience of buying condoms for the first time in years; Valka doubted Hiccup would forget but better safe than sorry. Hiccup had gone to all sorts of trouble like cooking and buying her favourite water... she felt like she came up short on effort.

The sky had begun to turn dark before there was a knock at the door, though when Valka checked the peephole there was nobody there. She opened the door cautiously, finding Hiccup crouched on the doorstep. She raised an eyebrow as he smiled awkwardly.

"I gotta hand it to Tuff, this isn't easy to do. Do you have a back garden?"

He stood, waited for Valka to step back as invitation to enter before he actually crossed the threshold.

"Yes, why?"

"Because I like the sky right now. I just gotta put some stuff in your fridge."

He was energetic, talking a mile a minute as he went in search of her kitchen. He put things in her fridge as said, chiding her for trying to look. In her own refrigerator!

"Yep. I can work with this. Come on!"

Valka let herself be pulled along agreeably, and after a cursory check Hiccup laid on his back in the grass. After a minute, Valka copied and he grinned, taking her hand and pointing up with the other.

"This is the only time we really get these colours. Sunrise is all orange and pink like foam sweets. Sunset is... a real palette."

A consummate artist, Hiccup detailed how he saw the different ebbs and swirls of dusk until the sky was a solid ocean of navy dotted only by the first stars of the night.

"Can we get up now?"

"Come on, don't tell me that wasn't fun."

"No, it was. I just wish I'd known to bring a pillow."

Hiccup chuckled, semi-kneeling to help Valka to her feet and they ventured back into her home.

"You want to eat first" he slid against her like silk, trapping Valka effectively between his body and the cool metal finish of the fridge door "or work up an appetite? I've no preference."

How was he allowed to be so utterly,  _indecently_  arousing only minutes after he was waxing poetic about the night sky? Either way, she couldn't have waited another minute to kiss him. Hiccup growled against her mouth, clutching her hips and somehow managing to boost her on to the side without her really noticing.

Then his hands were under her skirt, tugging down her underwear and she realised his intentions pretty quickly. Valka  _intended_  to protest, but somehow ended up lifting helpfully to extricate herself from impeding material instead. In the  _kitchen._

"Hey, it's a room for eating right?"

Hiccup's answer made her realise she'd spoken the last three words of her thoughts aloud, cheeks burning at the implications while Hiccup knelt down, tugged her to sit further forward for his ease of access and wasted no time in swiping his tongue through the wet mess he had already made of her. Rapidly losing dignity under his eager ministrations, Valka clutched the edge of the counter and Hiccup clutched her thighs in return, holding them apart to keep her spread open.

She'd never had a partner who seemed excited to do this, and definitely never one who used it as a means to bring her to climax. More to functionally arouse her for the main event. Hiccup on the other hand... he'd taken her underwear off with his  _teeth_ in his want to taste her, to leave Valka rattled by the intense climax while he looked proud, smug even.

He bit at her thigh when he slowed to breathe for a second, leaving bruises in his wake that shouldn't have thrilled her as much as they did. Then his thin lips sealed on her clit, sucked and tugged gently at it until Valka was near-delirious, mindlessly rutting against his mouth in her own eagerness to come on his tongue.

What had he done to her?

Her head knocked against a cabinet as it fell back, body wracking with exquisitely pleasurable tremors and her mouth betrayed her want to stay quiet, loud moans telling Hiccup exactly how she was feeling as he brought her off beautifully. One of her hands had found it's way to his hair, the patch she had tugged roughly sticking out even more than his hair usually did.

Hiccup stood, panting almost as heavily as she as he guided her legs apart so he could lean between them.

"Since we have all weekend... I'm wondering if that's enough time to go down on you in every room of your house. Got a preference for where to next?"

Still quivering from the climax, Valka could only stare at him.

It was going to be a  _long_ weekend.

-HTTYD-

 

**Valcup always getting outta control**


	4. Chapter 4

**Fanfiction crashes and server errors are a plague of existence.**

-HTTYD-

Valka had been pretty damn wild before. Now with the assurance of mutual, intense attraction and the level of openness they had reached... she was downright  _insatiable._ Sleep had been his only reprieve between last night and now, where she'd found quite the second wind after he crossed three rooms off his list, going down on her until Valka had to beg him to stop. The ache in his tongue was well worth that.

Hiccup found himself with his wrists pinned above his head, her teeth sinking into his throat as she sucked a bruise there. It felt  _amazing_ , but as he eventually managed to fight her off and pin her to her bed again, Hiccup chuckled as he kissed her jaw.

"Now my dads gonna want to know who I'm seeing."

Valka rocked up into him, erection dragging across her soft belly as they rolled around, kissing and groping and fighting for dominance.

"Would you tell him it's someone old enough to be your mother?"

"Proudly. You're fucking gorgeous Val."

She all but lunged at him, legs tangling together as she kissed him stupid and tweaked his bitten, sensitive nipple almost harshly. Gods, she was a demon in bed now she felt considerably more liberated. Valka always gentled on his scars, the tender touches a new experience for him - he'd insisted on wearing a t-shirt with almost every previous sexual partner, after the first to see them freaked out. They were such an expected part of Hiccup to himself that he forgot to warn her.

But Valka showed her scars, so it was only fair he do the same.

Valka slid down his body, long-limbed and effortlessly lithe as she reached where she could kiss his hipbone, slim fingers curling around his erection. Hiccup got the feeling he was about to be repaid for the constant oral sex he'd given her. Given how by the time they stopped Valka could barely stand, Hiccup wasn't sure if he was about to be victim or benefactor.

Either way, Valka's mouth was pure sin when she took his cock, tongue stroking up and down the underside in a way that made him see stars. One hand pinned involuntarily shifting hips, the other stroking his shaft in time with her obscenely talented mouth. She'd been a little sloppy with lack of practice only last week, though her enthusiasm was a potent aphrodisiac all on it's own. In only a week she'd somehow become a fucking goddess of blowjobs and Hiccup wasn't sure his melting brain wouldn't come out of his ears as she reduced him to a shuddering wreck.

Reappearing next to him as she reached for her water bottle, Valka watched him lay there utterly blissed out.

"Are you alright?"

"I am fantastic.  _That_ was fantastic."

"In which case you're quite welcome."

Chuckling, Hiccup wrapped his arms around her hips and tugged her over until she knelt either side of his chest. It was a pretty fantastic view.

"My turn."

She shivered.

"Gods, I'm not sure I can take more."

Hiccup soothed fingers down her inner thigh, rubbed circles on the inside of her knee.

"If it's too much, say so. Never be afraid to stop if you're not enjoying it ok?"

Valka nodded; he felt sure she knew he'd stop when she asked, but the reassurance was clearly appreciated. Curving his fingers around her ass, Hiccup encouraged her closer until she was in reach and flicked his tongue across her clit. Valka spasmed, choking on a moan that sounded almost pained but when he stopped to check she was ok, she growled at him to continue.

Grinning to himself, Hiccup worked her up slowly to ensure she didn't get hypersensitive too fast, and only when he had her shaking, panting, clutching her headboard and his hair tightly did Hiccup go for broke and move quickly, seeming to almost shock her into coming as she quaked and clung for purchase. He held her tight as best he could, supporting her weight through the tremors until it was safe to let her down.

"I think you broke me."

"If I did, I apologise... for not being the slightest bit sorry."

She attempted to swat him but it was so half-hearted Hiccup didn't think she meant it. Wiping his mouth functionally, he handed Valka her water bottle and sat up more comfortably. His cock pulsed against his thigh, aroused to hardness again by making her come but he hushed it, looked at his bedmate queryingly.

"Food? I think its about lunchtime... my watch is somewhere in that pile of discarded clothes and throw pillows."

"Not moving."

Hiccup chuckled, stroking her sweat-damp hair.

"I didn't say you had to move yet. Just asking if you were hungry."

"Ravenous."

"I'll go reacquaint myself with your kitchen then. Join me whenever you find your land legs."

Hunting out his discarded boxers - Hiccup never was one for wandering about naked - he reluctantly left his gorgeous but definitely immobile lover in her bed and padded down the stairs toward the kitchen. Valka was surprisingly happy to let him just invade the room and feed her, but then she did seem to enjoy the fruits of his efforts.

She surfaced some fifteen minutes later, hair loosely tied back to try and keep it from taking up too much room after Hiccup successfully transformed it into wild sex hair. He had vegetables already pre-cooked and spiced, ready to be warmed in the oven for a sustaining meal alongside the chicken he was lightly frying. Valka slid her arms around his waist again, the being little-spooned really quite enjoyable for him.

"You are far too good at making me want to spend all day in bed."

He smiled as she kissed the side of his jaw, chuckled as she mock-complained to him.

"It's the weekend. You're allowed. And I'm happy to utilise other furniture if bed is boring you."

"What would you normally do with your weekends?"

She asked as Hiccup regretfully dislodged her hands to move a few things around, then turned back to her.

"Depends really. Sometimes I take Toothless for really long walks. Draw. Sit in my pants watching TV. Me and Eret go camping sometimes. Spend time with my dad if he's not too busy at the auto shop. Homework? I guess. What about you?"

Valka lifted a stray piece of carrot from the side and popped it into her mouth, smiling at Hiccup's fake-scolding glare.

"Sometimes I go out with friends. I like long walks or even long drives, finding little tucked away places that are pretty. I paint. I used to visit with mother at least once a month before she moved in temporarily, but obviously now that's not needed. Can't get rid of her, she's been on my case about you all week."

"Me? You told her about me?"

Valka looked up, blinking quickly as she thought.

"Oh, no. Well. Not exactly. She could tell I'd been... out last weekend, and wanted the details as mothers do. She doesn't know who you are, or that you take my class."

Pushing his luck but really rather curious, Hiccup turned the heat down on the frying pan and eyed Valka.

"What  _did_ you tell her about me then? Because those are kinda major details."

Valka's cheeks tinged a lovely shade of pink as she looked away, mumbling something under her breath.

"Didn't catch that."

"I said... gods I feel silly now. I said it was perhaps the best I've had."

Doing a sort of internal fist pump of pride, Hiccup grinned at the flushed woman.

"Why are you embarrassed to say that? It's not exactly bad for my ego... unless you were lying to your mother."

She stammered slightly on her response.

"Oh. No. Not lying. It just- hm. I feel like it makes me sound like some lusty old spinster chasing a boy barely into adulthood."

Frowning, Hiccup took her hands and pulled her closer. Valka came willingly, cheeks still pink.

"Ok. One, you can't be a spinster, since you  _have_ been married. Two, I rather like your lusty-ness. Three, you're not  _old._  And last but not least? I'm  _not_  a boy."

She eventually looked back up at his face, eyes shy but clear.

"You are quite right, I suppose."

"No suppose about it. Now would you care to set the table? I need to refuel if I have such a reputation to maintain."

He watched as Valka's lips quirked into a playful smile, embarrassment finally going away as it should.

"Quite."

Hiccup was undeniably spurred on by her words, taking every measure he could think of to make her come again and again until she pushed him away, claiming that if he touched her again she would  _die._  He chuckled as he sat up next to her in the rather messy remnants of her bed, unsure where his clothes, her clothes or at least half the pillows were. The sheets had come loose from their assigned corners, duvet rumpled and starting to escape its cover.

"I have never had sex that ended in such destruction."

"Aside from last week, when was the last time you spent almost the entire day in bed though?"

"Mmm. True."

Stretching, Hiccup took stock of his torso. Her nails were kept short and filed smooth, but they wraught destruction on his back and chest with ease. The hotter she got, the harder she bit him and there were a few spots of skin broken by her teeth over his shoulders, his pectorals and even his hips. There were fingerprint bruises on one of his arms where she had clung on through a drawn out climax, nail marks on the nape of his neck where she'd clutched as they kissed to get satisfaction.

"You can use the bathroom first, I'll try and fix the bed up."

"So you should. Your fault it's a mess."

For someone so thoroughly fucked, Valka was surprisingly snappy. Hiccup put that down to a mix of exhaustion and probably hunger; they hadn't ventured out for nourishment in a few hours. Seeing her eyes closed, Hiccup bravely reached out to tickle just below her ribcage.

"I don't remember a single complaint before now."

Valka squealed, slapped his hand away and sat up with venom in her eyes.

"Do that again and you'll be sleeping on the sofa."

He held up his hands in surrender, not daring to risk losing their late night spooning. He doubted Valka even knew she did it, but she'd reach up and twine their fingers together so they held hands through the night and he found it incredibly adorable.

Still eyeing him suspiciously, Valka slowly crawled from the bed, slipped a soft blue dressing gown over herself and staggered slightly on uncooperative legs. Hiccup doubted they'd be doing much of anything the next day; Valka could hardly walk as it was. He was pretty thoroughly shagged himself, muscles sore and well-used as he got up and tried to bring some order to the bed. He'd help her change it in the morning if she was still suffering the effects of Hiccup's youthful stamina.

_Best she's had._

It was hard not to let that go to his head. Granted, he'd suspected Valka had had  _some_  lacklustre lovers when she had first looked at him in surprise as his tongue dipped into her underwear, but still. Locating one of the pillows under the bed (how it got there, he didn't know) he tossed it up the top of straightened sheets, shook out and refastened the duvet. He'd started on sorting out the mess of clothes when Valka returned, finding him holding her bra and laughing lightly to herself.

"I'm not sure you would fill that out my dear."

"Hey, it's not my fault they never developed."

Valka shook her head, still chuckling as he tossed the article of clothing to her and located his shorts under her dress. They were a little loose on his narrow hips, but stayed up with his belt buckled. Finding clothes to fit when you were just over six foot and a string bean was tough. For Valka it must be even harder, he mused. She was taller than him, enormously tall for a woman.

"So what do you want to do for dinner?"

"I was thinking of ordering in. Not that your cooking isn't fantastic but I suppose I have a craving."

Hiccup smiled, nodding in agreement.

"Takeout sounds good. If you try and pay for my food though, I'm hiding all your left socks."

Rather than act like he was mad, Valka quipped back.

"What are you, a mountain troll?"

"If I was it would be very odd for me to take an Art class. Not impossible, I suppose."

Hiccup insisted on answering the door for their food, for no other reason than he didn't want Valka to get dressed. Given the state of his torso, Hiccup probably ought to have put on a t-shirt. At least it was dark, so nobody other than the delivery guy would get an eyeful. Only after he came back in did Hiccup realise he hadn't even thought about the scars marring his skin; Valka had done  _wonders_  for making him forget all about them.

After a big helping of terribly unhealthy but delicious food, the two were both very ready for bed. For sleep, that was. Valka threatened delicate parts of his anatomy if he tried anything, to which Hiccup quickly insisted he only wanted sleep.

"You can even be the big spoon if you want to be certain I can't try anything. Jetpack me... actually I think that refers to being spooned by someone shorter. Technically I'm  _your_  jetpack."

Hiccup discovered that even when she was the big spoon, Valka's hand found its way to his in her sleep. Her breath was warm on the back of his neck, lips brushing his shoulder when she woke and pulled him closer in the night. He slept pretty fantastically and decided being spooned was excellent; his past girlfriends had held a monopoly for far too long.

Not that Valka was his girlfriend.

He wasn't sure what to call her really.

Teacher didn't cover it. Friends with benefits didn't sound right for people who had shared secrets like they had.  _Lover..._  it was both a little too intimate and not quite enough. Hiccup shook off the thoughts, resolving to leave it. They were what they were, and it worked.

"Do you have plans next weekend?"

Valka eyed him over breakfast - she'd prepared the fruit and served it with yoghurt, light and sweet.

"I meant to tell you, I'll be-"

"Oh, I know" Valka raised an eyebrow, and Hiccup realised he sounded creepy "I uh, saw the dots on your calendar. My ex girlfriend did the same."

"Oh. So... why did you ask?"

Hiccup leant back in his chair, biting a halved strawberry and dropping its leafy top next to his bowl.

"I'm planning to take Toothless over the hills by the big lake just outside of town. You walked that way before?"

Valka shook her head, looking suspicious.

"I don't think so, why?"

"Want to come? Obviously, we can't  _go_ together but there's no rule against bumping into each other and enjoying nice scenery. One artist to another."

Humming as she swirled her spoon in the honey drizzled over her yoghurt, Valka shook her head again.

"I meant... why would we spend time together-"

"When it's not going to end in sex?" she nodded "because I enjoy your company. I like how... free I feel around you. I like how uninhibited you are around me. I'm curious to see it outside of sex and school."

Valka bit her lip, clearly unsure.

"I need to think about it."

"That's fine. No pressure, just let me know by Friday so I can make you lunch."

"Do you have one of those feeding fetishes?"

Hiccup grinned.

"Only for you."

"Daft boy."

They spent much of the day half-dressed, he in shorts and she in a light tunic shirt that barely reached her hips. Valka showed him some of her favourite movies, surprised and pleased when Hiccup knew and could even quote a few of them.

"Eret likes these kinds of films. Cries whenever he watches Titanic, Thor's honest truth."

"And how upset would he be that you told me that?"

"Only a little, he's pretty good on the whole boys can cry thing. He gets bored of stereotypes, I mean look at him and Tuff. It's common people assume their relationships dynamic is masculine and feminine cus he's built and Tuff is skinny with long hair. But Eret is my best friend, Hel he's like my brother and I know inside he's soft as anything."

Valka smiled, tracing circles absent-mindedly over Hiccup's forearm where it rested loosely over her chest.

"He clearly cares for you a great deal."

"And I him. If you're worried about him knowing about this, just trust me. Eret would never do that to me, no matter how he may disapprove."

"I do trust you. Still, we must be careful."

"I don't disagree. But try not to worry about Eret."

Valka switched the radio on while they were in the kitchen, so Hiccup naturally had to grab hold of her and dance utterly terribly. She laughed openly as he twirled her awkwardly, the amusement stopping her from being able to resist.

"Oh, you daft boy. I'm getting too old for this."

Knowing he was almost certain to suffer one of her swats and eye rolls, Hiccup braced himself as they ambled around the kitchen with very little rhythm.

"I heard a great addage once that I think applies."

Valka raised an eyebrow, breath hitching slightly as Hiccup stole a cheeky squeeze of her ass. It was a fantastic rear end, no denying it.

"You're only as young as the man you feel."

As predicted, Valka slapped at his bare chest, trying to look scandalised and failing miserably as she started laughing.

"You are incorrigible!"

* * *

"I can't believe I'm doing this."

Hiccup looked up from the desk, frowning slightly even as his eyes coasted along her body.

"Look, if you don't want to do this, then say so. If you're worried somebody will see it, I  _swear_  that will not happen. I mean for starters, given how long it's taken me to convince you, why would I share?"

Valka shook her head, mostly at herself as she watched Hiccup select his tools.

"I feel silly."

"You look incredible. I'm half tempted to say bugger the drawing and come over there now."

She deliberated about encouraging that, but knew if she didn't do this now she'd not have the nerve to do it again.

"Valka?"

Hiccup prompted gently, coming over to kneel next to the chaise lounger she was laying on - it was the easiest thing to relocate for best lighting in the living room.

"Do you not want to do this? Please, if you don't feel good  _tell_  me."

She bit her lip, seeking the heat and desire in his face as he looked at her. Laying naked under his scrutiny seemed so much easier in bed.

"I'm nervous. But I'm ok."

"Alright then. Get comfortable, then I'll move you if I need to."

He was so soft and tender, gentle with her body as he shifted her arm just so, angled her legs slightly.

_Months._ Six months they had been... whatever it was they were. Teacher and student by day, rampant bedmates by night. That time had included Hiccup finishing the first year of the two her class ran for, and unsurprisingly passing with flying colours (his own joke about colourful dragons) and the summer holidays. Then class starting again, a couple of students less than the previous year; nobody had failed but not everyone was cut out for producing art on demand.

Ever since Valka's mother moved back to her own home, Hiccup had spent almost every weekend (and some week days if he wasn't working with his father) in her bed. They trysted at his home sometimes too - she liked his dog after all. They left their small town on occasion to go walking or driving together, and Hiccup was an excellent road trip partner - he brought snacks, could read a map and sang along terribly and happily to the radio.

Hiccup turned twenty one. Valka turned  _thirty eight._

He'd been  **particularly**  insatiable for her on her birthday, almost as though he was trying to convince her yet again that her age was just a number. She must be in better shape than her age suggested, else Hiccup's vigour would probably have killed her long ago. He never seemed to get enough of her, just as eager - if not more - as the first time.  _Every_ time.

"Comfy?"

Jerked out of her reverie, Valka nodded up at Hiccup. He didn't push her into letting him draw her, but when she offered at last Hiccup acted like every birthday and Christmas had come early.

"Good. If you get cold or need to move just shout."

"I have a feeling you'll notice if I'm cold."

Hiccup smirked, amused by both her implication and the fact his sense of humour had begun to rub off on her. He circled for a minute, settling on the best spot to draw her from and placing his chair there. The intensity of his stare as a lover was potent, as was his laser focus as an artist. When the two were combined.. Valka was hard pushed not to shiver under his eyes.

Green eyes flicked up and down, pad to body and back again. His gaze settled on certain spots for what seemed like hours at a time, but as he sketched Valka relaxed somewhat. Hiccup offered her reassuring smiles when their eyes met, and eventually he pouted in the way she knew meant he was finalising tiny details; she had seen the expression enough times during class.

"Ok, I'm done. Thank you for staying so still."

Valka stretched, sat up and immediately reached for her dressing gown. Relaxed as she was, she felt a little stranger being naked whe he was done and wasn't about to leap on her hungrily.

"Can I see it?"

"Of course. The muse is always welcome to the fruits of their labour."

Hiccup stood and came over to sit next to her, handing over his pad and Valka was stunned. Despite having been right there modelling for the picture, she could scarcely believe the woman on the page was her. The drawing showed soft curves and long, graceful limbs, beauty and elegance somehow conveyed through nought but skin. She saw the light dusting of her own freckles reflected in the sketch, the small lines that creased her face when she smiled hinted at and yet they didn't detract from anything the way Valka felt they did on her own features.

"This is how you see me?"

Her eyes noticed the faintest shadows on her belly, where Hiccup had even added the faded scars from her lost child. They somehow absolutely belonged there.

"I mean, it's impossible to capture just how beautiful you are in one drawing, but I consider it my finest work. Definitely my finest subject."

Valka continued to stare at it, near dumb struck.

"She's beautiful. I don't feel like this  _can_ be me."

Hiccup plucked the pad from her hands, placed it aside carefully before reaching for the tie of her gown. He opened it as though unwrapping a gift, hands sliding across her bare skin as he kissed her neck and manoeuvred their bodies until his clothed erection pressed to her naked thigh.

"You" he breathed his words against her ear, made her quiver "are utterly divine. Now come to bed so I can appreciate your body with the slightly less artistic side of me?"

Valka almost told him to simply have her right there, but they made it to her bed eventually. Hiccup pushed the gown from her shoulders, peppering her neck and jaw with soft kisses as she was guided backwards onto the bed. Before she let him lie her down, Valka reached for his bottoms to push them off.

Unprompted, Hiccup had presented her with a sheet of paper a month in to their... thing, dictating his clean bill of sexual health on the basis they didn't use protection for oral sex. Valka had forced herself to do the same thing, and then felt like an awkward teenager going to her doctor for alternative contraception. The implant now placed in her arm was a surprisingly painless procedure.

Once the embarrassment and waiting period had passed, it left the two free to dispense with condoms. It made financial sense at least, since they could go through a whole box in a weekend. And it was... liberating for Valka, the lack of physical barriers and still feeling safe in Hiccup's care for her body.

Hiccup climbed onto the bed with her, as naked as she and letting their bare skin slide together softly. Normally all over her with eager hands and hungry mouth, perhaps sating his artistic desire for her body had mellowed him slightly. He kissed her, deep and slow and piercing enough to make her knees shake even though they were laid down.

He stroked her skin, fingers knowing every spot on her body that made her moan and how to work her to a mindless frenzy of arousal. Hiccup mapped her as only an artist could, appreciating the dips and swells of curves and scars, shifting colours as her skin flushed. To him, they weren't flaws. Just different textures, a different technique used to place them on her body and he told her so, thumbing a swollen nipple and caressing the marks on her belly while he whispered praise for her beauty against her ear.

Somehow the slowness made her  _more_ sensitive, a feat Valka hadn't known possible with how Hiccup made every nerve in her body come alive regularly. She trembled under his hands, bucked and whimpered when knowing fingers dipped down between her thighs to stroke her clit. Hiccup hissed under his breath when he found her wet, desperate and oh so ready for him. When his hand vanished she pitched, too aroused to let him stop touching her.

Hiccup cooed, soothing and shushing her as he moved closer, fingers feathering over her inner thighs before he lifted her legs, guiding them up around his hips as he slipped inside her. Valka could only gasp as he filled her, Hiccup's cock moulding her body to his as her hands moved to clutch his shoulders, shuddering at the intense feelings of joining. Hiccup whimpered against her mouth as they kissed, as she shifted to fit him better until the angle was  _perfect._

"Fuck Valka" he was shuddering too, fingers tight on her thigh where his hand rested "if I'd known you'd get this hot for being drawn I'd have tried to convince you sooner."

If Valka could speak, she would tell him it wasn't the drawing, that it was just  _him._ That with every passing day he displayed such a tender care for her, such a genuine interest in her happiness and wellbeing, and with every night he played her body expertly until she was nothing but jellied limbs and satisfaction... that Valka was falling for him.

But the prospect of scaring him away was too great and fearful; Hiccup was spending his time on her because they had fantastic sex, and just happened to be a wonderful man who enjoyed similar hobbies to her. He wanted her body, her smiles and to cultivate her self-acceptance. He didn't want her  _heart._  So Valka kept quiet, knowing that this would inevitably end some day and settling herself to take what she could get until the day Hiccup moved on.

When Hiccup held her as he was doing so now, hand in her hair as he kissed her, hips rocking into her with measured slowness to leave her gasping and writhing, eyes on her like she was a painted masterpiece... she could even kid herself a little. It was dangerous but addictive to feed the beast of her feelings, and when Hiccup murmured that she was beautiful again Valka felt tears sting the corners of her eyes.

Hiccup noticed, stilling immediately and Valka whined, protesting the sudden halt of pleasure.

"You're  _crying."_

If she didn't lie, and  _quick,_ Hiccup would  _know._

"It's hard to explain... I'm fine, but also a little overwhelmed?"

He eyed her critically, as though searching for cues of the truth.

"Do you want to stop?"

"Gods no!"

Her vehement refuting seemed to settle him, though Hiccup watched her face more closely as he picked up his rhythm again and Valka started to fall to pieces beneath him. She worried he could see it all, that her feelings were writ across her face but Hiccup closed his eyes, kissed her tears away and she tasted the faint salt on his lips when they met hers again.

"C-close."

Valka stammered out, Hiccup's growl only pushing her closer to the edge and his fingers moved from her thigh to her clit, stroking and pressing. The touch was  _so_ intensely good it hurt, but Valka craved the feeling and her body coiled, like spring tightening until it could do naught but snap free.

She bit him, needing to be sure she could say nothing stupid to feel free to enjoy the climax and Hiccup grunted as her teeth sank into his shoulder. Valka felt her body wracked anew with relentless pleasure, unsure how Hiccup was capable of making her feel quite so  _much_  and yet to learn how to manage it all. He spilled inside her with a primal sound of satisfaction, hips slowing to a stop until they were a panting, sweaty mass of tangled limbs.

**"Wow.**  That was... something."

Hiccup had been the best lover she'd experienced on their first time. He'd had months of practice now, their bodies intimately known and powerfully responsive to the other. Hiccup had done things to her Valka scarcely knew were possible, awakened some feral beast inside her who fed on the sexual energy of a man half her age and she was undeniably, irrevocably changed by him.

"Quite."

He was slow to soften inside her, to pull away from her slick skin and reach for the moist wipes kept next to her bed. Still shaking, Valka felt him clean her gently, then himself before moving to envelope her in a much-needed embrace.

"Are you alright?"

"Mmm."

The truth was... she  _was_ alright. While she could kid herself as he cuddled her, stroked her sweat-damp hair and back, while his heart beat steady beneath her hand on his chest.

"You've never cried during sex before."

"Wasn't crying. Just tears."

"There's a difference?"

Valka sighed, accepting that Hiccup wanted reassurance at the expense of her quietly basking in her afterglow.

"Sex causes hormones to rush all over the place. Sometimes they can make a girl tear up a bit. I wasn't  _sad,_ so I wasn't  _crying._ Just tears. That truly was incredible Hiccup."

He still seemed a tad unsure, but went right back to cuddling her, stroking her bare arm and occasionally brushing a hand over her cheek, presumably to check for more tears.

"You wanna get up and watch a movie or just stay in bed?"

Much as she wished never to leave the cocoon they had made for themselves in her bed, Valka knew for the sake of her sanity she ought to get a little distance.

"Up."

Of course, Hiccup didn't make distance easy when he naturally curled himself around her to watch the film. He absently stroked her hand, warm laughter quiet against her ear when funny moments came on. When the movie ended, Hiccup sat up and as he moved his hand, it brushed the side of her breast. That small touch made her spasm, cry out and completely terrify her houseguest.

"What's wrong?"

Valka shook her head, gently cupping her chest and realising that her breasts were sore. It had happened before, though not usually so suddenly and often only Hiccup's hands had been clutching them as he fucked her from behind, or her period being closer to due.

"Sore."

"I didn't think that was until next week."

Hiccup knew her cycle well, knew when she was likely to be even more randy for him than usual and when she'd throw something at him if he even made suggestive remarks about sex. He brought her chocolate and painkillers on her bad days, rubbed her back and fetched her hot water bottles if cramps got her suddenly.

"Mhmm, but I think using a hormonal contraceptive can sometimes mess with the expected cycle."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. You've only had that implant a couple of months. Want painkillers or anything?"

Thinking about how best to ease her discomfort, Valka shook her head.

"I think I'll take a bath."

"Want me to go put it on for you? That way you can take all the time you want moving."

"If it's not too much trouble."

Hiccup smiled, shook his head and pecked a kiss on her lips.

"No trouble at all. Take your time."

He skipped off, whistling happily to himself and Valka  _ached_ for how perfect he was, how he treated her so well when he didn't  _have_ to. He could get her into bed without making the efforts he did. Valka couldn't resist him.

As she stood, Valka noticed her belly was a little bloated. Yep, definitely an early month. She twisted her hair into a braid to keep it dry, then slowly ascended the stairs. Hiccup had a steaming tub full of soft scented bubbles and relaxing bath salts ready for her, keeping his hands to himself when he knew she was painfully sensitive - and not in a good way. The hot water felt silky on her skin, soothed her aches away beautifully and he left her to soak to her hearts content.

Hiccup returned about twenty minutes later, offering to wash her back for her and massaging her buttery muscles gently as his fingers dipped below the water line to rinse. Then he scooped up some bubbles and put them on her face, giggling at her 'bubble beard'. His boundless humour was infectious, leaving her chuckling too as she wiped the bubbles away before they got in her mouth.

"I think you look even better with a beard than I would."

"Oh do behave Hiccup."

"Never! I can stay tonight if you want me to, but I gotta leave first thing after breakfast tomorrow. Dad's offered to fix the cars from that pileup accident for cost of parts only so its all hands on deck at the shop."

Valka remembered it in the news only days ago - thankfully, nobody was seriously injured but several cars were badly damaged. As the water began to cool, Valka regretfully pulled the plug and took the towel Hiccup handed her as she got out of the bath.

"Is that where you went, to call your father?"

"Oh, no. He called me while I was out at the store. Got your usual."

Sure enough, there was a pile of her favourite sweet treats and a box of painkillers waiting. Hiccup even bought her sanitary products, as he knew she wasn't expecting to have come on early. He was actually an angel, she decided as her heart fluttered in her chest.

"You're welcome to stay, but you'll have to be careful with me."

"I will be the perfect gentleman."

Valka didn't doubt it. Hiccup was careful and considerate, hand gentle on her slightly bloated stomach even when he slept. Valka struggled to drift off for what may have been the first night ever since she started sleeping with her student, something niggling at her and she couldn't shake it.

After seeing Hiccup off the next day, Valka grabbed her car keys and drove to the nearest pharmacy. She felt ridiculous, somewhere between hopeful and terrified as she perused the stacks of options. Picking up a box that bragged to be the earliest possible detector, Valka purchased two and left with the 'good luck' sentiments of the pharmacist ringing in her ears.

She paced. Checked the first one. Panicked. Took the second. Same result. Panicked some more.

They almost seemed to mock her, laughing as Valka's mind whirled.

_Pregnant._

-HTTYD-

**I'm _aiming_ for this to be over next chapter but then I was aiming for this to be a two shot. So who knows.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Last chapter! I have _so_  enjoyed writing with a new dynamic for these two and while I won't stop sailing the good ship Valcup with all associated taboo, there's definitely more Unrelated!Valcup on the cards in future.**

-HTTYD-

Valka sat in the doctors office, having decided to confirm it properly before she completely freaked out. Peeing on a stick was awkward and embarrassing at home; watching a doctor dip test her urine sample was definitely no better.

"I'll take your blood to be certain, but I think you might well be pregnant Valka."

Fuck.

"Then what was the point of having this" she indicated her arm where the same doctor had fitted her contraceptive implant "put in?"

"No contraceptive is perfect, but the implant is  _usually_  one of the most successful. I recommended it for you as it's easily reversible and you said you possibly wanted children in the future... is this not welcome news for you then?"

Her doctor, a lovely woman who was maddeningly  _patient_  when Valka wanted to panic, eyed her closely.

"It is and it isn't. I... I wasn't planning on having children with  _him._ "

"The father?"

Valka nodded, mind whirling. How the Hel was she supposed to tell Hiccup she was pregnant? Gods, she was pregnant by a  _student._  She could lose her job.

"Well I surmised you weren't intending to be pregnant any time soon as this lasts two years. It'll have to come out since you tested positive, so if you engage in sex I recommend using condoms until your blood comes back."

"You  _just_  said you think I'm pregnant."

"Yes, I do. But without blood work it's not certain and so you could feasibly fall pregnant from unprotected sex while you wait. Should you engage in sexual intercourse again within the next week, that is."

She and Hiccup hadn't gone that long without sex since the whole thing started. He was ... he was going to be stricken, distraught that she had changed his future completely.

And then there was the other concern.

"I lost my last baby."

Tapping away on her keyboard, the doctor brought up Valka's history and went searching for the miscarriage.

"Do you know why?"

It was her deepest shame, and Valka had never forgotten it.

"Placental insufficiency."

Her body had failed her daughter, not quite developing the necessary systems to feed and nurture her child.

"Hmm. You didn't have any risk factors for it back then, I see, but that was over a decade ago. I'll give you a full work up to check risk factors now, and you should fill this out" a questionnaire about smoking and recreational drugs was pushed into her hands "but this isn't a thing that usually repeats. It's a random complication, but if you  **are**  pregnant, we can monitor you more closely to check for signs. The outlook is pretty good if we catch it early."

Valka saw her hand shake slightly as she ticked 'no' on several options including drugs, smoking and excessive alcohol. She rarely drank anyway, and now she definitely wouldn't. In reality, her only real vice was  _Hiccup._

"Ok. Roll up your sleeve for me so I can take your blood pressure?"

Valka obeyed mechanically, barely noticing the squeeze of the cuff as her mind went straight to Hiccup.

She wouldn't tell him  _yet._ As certain as Valka already somehow was that there were cells just multiplying away inside her, growing and growing, it wouldn't do to throw such a bomb into Hiccup's life without being certain.

Then the tiny implant was removed from her arm, the minute scar still pink where it was put in barely three months ago.

"Run along and see the blood nurse, she's free at the moment and I've just buzzed her a message."

Thirty eight and pregnant by a twenty one year old student. A student she had feelings for, but who in reality was only a sexual partner. Valka hadn't been sure she would ever try to have a child again, but here it was, happening anyway. It had taken  _years_ for her to fall pregnant with her ex husband, actively trying with supplements and temperature checks and ovulation dates. Hiccup had done it through an apparently highly efficient contraceptive in a matter of months.

Granted, an exceptionally...  _active_ few months. But it did beg the question in the back of her mind whether or not her ex husband had fertility issues; he had never gone to the doctor for tests, insisting he was perfectly fine and it must be her fault they couldn't conceive. Hiccup had proved  _that_ wrong.

Two vials of blood lighter and after being made to sit with water for fifteen minutes in case she was dizzy, Valka was back in her car. One week. One week until she was certain if she had gone and ruined Hiccup's life. She would definitely let him know if she was, and definitely reassure him he didn't have to be involved if he didn't want to.

Hiccup had never mentioned wanting children, but why would he? He had barely exited childhood himself before Valka all but threw herself at him like a needy, aging sex hound. He always made her feel alive, refreshed and filled with vitality. There was an irony to him literally putting a life inside her somewhere, but Valka was too panicked to appreciate it.

As she drove home to quietly melt down there instead, she thought of all the times Hiccup had been in her car, laughing and joking and feeding her chocolate while she drove. Gods, they'd had sex in the car more than once while out - incredibly risky for two people who weren't allowed to be together, and difficult when both were endowed with ridiculously long limbs but Odin they had found ways.

Not to mention it made her feel like a randy teenager. Only Hiccup had ever had that effect; Valka hadn't done such things when she actually  _was_ a teenager.

Her phone vibrated with a text message - her mother reminding her it was 'visiting weekend' that week. Normally, Valka would not be  _quite_  so scared of her mother. But... there was no doubt Rama and her bloodhound senses would spot Valka was distressed, and she wouldn't hold up long under questioning.

Valka stared at her phone some more, the damn thing full of texts from Hiccup. Never explicit, but often incredibly suggestive and intended to leave her wanting for the next time they were together. It always worked.

Part of her wasn't ready to give it all up just yet. Because she was certain once Hiccup found out he would lose interest, fearful of her expecting more from him than he was prepared to give. Gone would be weekends spent entombed in bedding, sheets twisting around sweaty bodies as he made her come undone over and over. Gone would be stolen nights where she basked in his needy moans, made him writhe and buck in pleasure.

He'd stop looking at her like she was beautiful; there would be a gap in Art class where Hiccup's eyes followed her around with heat in his gaze. She would have to lose the times he cuddled her close, wave goodbye to him taking care of her just because. They would stop baking cookies together; Valka so adored watching him cook, the way he always offered her tastes and occasionally iced X-rated images on biscuits.

But perhaps it was all for the best.

Valka had let her feelings run amok for far too long, indulging her silly delusions that they could be more than what they were. Hiccup was young, free, perfect. He deserved someone to match that. Not a divorced woman approaching forty, who he couldn't even tell anybody about because she also happened to be his  _teacher._

No. It was good there was a cut off point in sight. She couldn't afford to be sappy and sentimental about a casual fling if she was to be a mother.

Gods, a  _mother._

Valka was getting ahead of herself. Her blood test might come back negative and all her woes and worries would be for naught. She could go back to lying to herself about how casual their relationship was while she secretly loved him from within his arms.

Her phone buzzed again; a light-hearted complaint from Hiccup that she wasn't at work today - she only had one class that day and hadn't felt  _too_  bad calling in sick to go to the doctors. When she replied to say she was off sick, he immediately called her and she seriously contemplated not answering it.

But she wanted, needed,  _ached_ to hear his voice. She clicked on 'answer'.

"Hey, are you alright?"

He sounded so genuinely worried. Valka could hear the sounds of people on his end; he was calling her from college. That was  _so_ risky.

"Fine, I just felt awful this morning."

"You can tell me if you're playing truant. I won't tell. I'm good at secrets."

The sounds behind him quieted slightly; he had better not be calling her from class. Gods, what a nonsense thing for her to think. They had forsaken rules long ago.

"I've no doubt. Where are you?"

"College, but I'm out back where the ones smoking pot are. They wouldn't notice if I got naked never mind that I'm on the phone. Anyway enough about me... are you ok? Want me to come make you chicken soup?"

She really did quite want Hiccup coming over to take care of her. It made her feel cherished. But she shouldn't be encouraging herself with such ridiculous notions.

"I hate chicken soup."

"Me too but that's all I know you're meant to eat when sick. I can come over and just be at your beck and call if you like."

Why wasn't Valka saying no? She needed distance. A clear head.

"So long as you aren't skipping class."

"Nah, just got a ten minute thing with my Engineering teacher and then I can be all yours."

Valka hated that she came over a tad silly at those words, especially when he didn't mean them the way she wished he did.

"Are you seeing other teachers behind my back?"

Hiccup started laughing, the sound filling her stomach with butterflies.

"I am, I'm sorry. However, since you know he's a fifty year old man with a beard almost as long as your hair, I imagine you know he isn't my type. I close my eyes and think of you the whole time, I swear."

She joined in his laughter, infectious humour worming through her defences despite her emotional turmoil.

"You are terrible!"

"I know. Be with you in an hour... need anything picking up? Cold tablets? Sex toys? A guide to Nuclear Weaponry?"

"Hiccup! No, I'm  _fine_  thank you."

"Suit yourself. I'm bringing popcorn."

He bid her goodbye to go for his study meet with his Engineering teacher; despite his beard, Gunner was a perfectly lovely man. As soon as the phone was hung up, Valka was kicking herself. How had intentions for distance become inviting when he thought she was sick, and therefore it was nigh impossible he was expecting an afternoon workout with her? Damn him.

Still... she didn't have any certainties to tell him yet. Today was safe.

Hiccup turned up an hour later as promised - he parked his bike in her driveway (entirely not euphemistically), wheeled behind her car for discretion and let himself in the front door of her home. Sure enough, he had popcorn in his bag. Along with a giant cookie saying 'get well soon' in icing.

"It didn't  _sound_  like you had a cold on the phone, so am I allowed to kiss you?"

She nodded and he beamed, kissing her sweetly.

"Good. If you are feeling better, here is a celebration. If not I brought crackers and flavoured water and that will keep for five days in the fridge."

"You're too sweet."

Hiccup smiled, his lopsided grin permanently responsible for the fluttering in her belly.

"I try. Want to pick a movie?"

Valka had a Netflix subscription. Not that she knew what Netflix  _was_ until Hiccup asked if she used it. They'd gone through much of both their movie collections together, so new material was welcomed. She scrolled through the seemingly endless titles while Hiccup pottered about her kitchen, making her fruit tea and cuddling her against his chest. Oh, it was so hard to be rational and realistic when he kissed her hair, stroked her forearm and nuzzled the side of her face before kissing her.

"You're going to see your mom this weekend right?"

"Yes."

"That's cool. If she had you, your mom must be awesome. And I guess I should have dinner with my dad, maybe even volunteer a Sunday shift to him. He'll be stunned."

"Hiccup, I don't want you neglecting your relationship with your father for me."

He shook his head, kissed her again.

"I'm not. Honest. He's got a new love interest and is almost as busy as me. But since he asked if I was free and you are  _heartlessly_ abandoning me to a cold bed, I suppose I can spare the time."

Valka swatted playfully at his chest; Hiccup caught her hand and kissed her again. He was particularly attached to her mouth that day, not that she really minded.

"You are so overdramatic."

"I know. I'm kidding. You should absolutely go and see your mother. Hel, see her more often if you want. I'll still be here when you come back."

Damn him. She felt tears threaten, wishing so much that she could always be sure he would be waiting. Valka could only mask them by turning away, feeling him cuddle up to her back again and kissing the base of her jaw. His breathing evened out and when Valka had to get up for the bathroom, Hiccup tightened his arm on her waist but his eyes were closed when she twisted around.

"Hey" she nudged him gently, gorgeous green eyes opening, soft with sleep "I need to move."

"Was I stopping you?"

"Well, yes, rather."

Hiccup's sleepy smile almost broke her. He was particularly adorable and sweet when he had just woken.

"Do apologise. On you go... time is it?"

Valka glanced at the clock.

"Seven thirty. Are you staying or leaving?"

"I wish I could stay, but Eret's going to Tuff's tonight and someone needs to walk Toothless in the morning. I'd invite you over but I know you don't stay out on school nights. Even if you do play truant. Naughty."

Rationality almost fled completely as Valka considered going back with him. She found  _some_ self-discipline though.

"Correct."

Hiccup pouted in thought, brushing stray hairs off her face.

"Won't see you again til you get back, right?"

"Mhmm."

"Sucks, but hey. You're worth the wait. Monday?"

"I'll have to get back to you on that, I'm certain I have a prior engagement one evening next week but I cannot for the life of me remember which day."

And her mother might  _still_  be scolding her for sleeping with a student. Valka wouldn't be surprised.

"Alright. Didn't you need the bathroom?"

Valka nodded, standing then looking down at Hiccup, perfect and beautiful.

"Come to bed?"

He didn't need asking twice generally, but Hiccup hesitated as she stood.

"I thought you were sick."

Valka bit her lip.

"So be gentle."

Hiccup kissed her sharply, stealing her breath away.

"Go on. I'll be waiting."

He was already undressed when Valka made it back to the bedroom, tumbling her beneath him with gentle hands and removing her clothes like delicate wrapping paper. She'd said be gentle; Hiccup took it to heart and every move was slow, every kiss soft yet left her gasping, twisting. At no point did she even consider bringing up the removed implant from her arm; when Hiccup asked about the tiny bandage, she said the scar was irritated by her scratching and she was trying to stop. He accepted that, continued to turn her to jelly.

Hiccup checked she was still ok before he was inside her, but then he was pressing in and she was shivering at the intensity in his eyes, in his touch. Oh, Valka found it so easy to fool herself like this. Hiccup held her tighter, kissed her, caressed her as he took her to pieces. Gasped against her ear as he joined her. Cuddled her through the aftershocks, stroked her sweaty skin.

How was she supposed to let him go?

When Hiccup had to leave for home, she almost went with him. He kissed her on her doorstep, one hand holding his bike helmet while the other cupped her cheek under the moonlight.

"I'll miss you. Enjoy the time with your mom."

Valka watched him wheel down toward the road, vanishing beneath his helmet and taking off home. It was  _ridiculous_ to miss him already... and yet she did. Even seeing him in class the next day was more painful than usual; partly because she ached for him, partly because she was to go and face her mother tonight and Hiccup's face was a constant reminder.

The drive to her mothers home was nerve wracking, seemed unusually long as Valka hummed to the radio. It wasn't the same without Hiccup singing along...  _stop it!_ she scolded herself, focusing on the road ahead. Valka pulled up at her mothers home - her childhood home - and picked up her weekend bag from the seat next to her. Possibly having seen window - or psychic, Valka would not be surprised - Rama had the door open before Valka got to it.

"Oh now, what's wrong my dear?"

"You could start with hello, mother."

"Oh, pish to such formalities. Come in, come in."

Shuffled in by the tiny woman of formidable force, Valka had her bag 'taken' (all but stolen as Rama ushered her into a chair) and plied with tea and a sugar cookie.

"What's going on my love?"

"Gods, where do I start?" actually, once Valka thought about it that was easy enough "I think... I think I'm pregnant. Just waiting on doctors confirmation."

Rama was visibly initially thrilled, but then she obviously thought about it - firstly, her dear daughter was  _single_  and second, the last time she had been pregnant, it had all ended in pain and tears.

"Is this anything to do with that mystery man I know you've still been... well I presume sleeping with?"

Valka nodded, eyes prickling slightly at the thought of Hiccup.

"It's... promise you won't hate me?"

"Oh Val, I'll never hate you you daft girl. What's the problem? Is he married? Famous? A convict? A famous, married convict?"

She shook her head, fearful of her mothers reaction.

"A student."

Her mothers eyes went comically wide; no small feat for the woman Valka had inherited the 'doe eyes' from.

"Ah. Now I see why you didn't tell me before. How long has this been going on?"

"Almost seven months. Gods, it was just meant to be sex. He made me feel good about myself again, never let me feel old and past it."

Valka didn't love admitting that she'd willingly engaged in a... relationship? didn't feel right, but Valka had no other word, just for sex. Not when she was almost forty and should be thinking of settling down.

Well... she sort of had been. But only in truly ridiculous delusions that were further away than ever.

"I noticed. You've been happier than I've ever seen you these past few months... was the baby an accident?"

"Yes! I even went to the doctor for something that was  _supposedly_  the most effective method of pregnancy prevention."

Rama chuckled a little as she shook her head.

"Oh love. How did you end up in such a situation? Come on, time you told me everything."

Valka did. Well, she left out some of the more  _explicit_  details, but her mother squealed and cooed in amusement when Valka mentioned Hiccup's... stamina, the long, exhaustive weekends spent barely leaving her bed. She laughed at the stories of bad singing during road trips and chasing Toothless across hills when Hiccup dropped the lead while distracted by Valka.

She listened, enraptured, as Valka told of how he took care of her when she was sick, braved her moodiness when hormones were her enemy. How Hiccup constantly reminded Valka she had so much life left to live.

"So what exactly is stopping you? It sounds like he really cares for you."

"He's so  _young._  Odin, I was  _married_ before he even started nursery."

Rama tisked, sipping from her mug and frowning at the contents.

"Gone cold. More tea?"

"Gods no, I think I'll spend half the night on the loo as it is."

"You better get used to that!"

Valka rolled her eyes, shook her head at her mother.

"Nothing is confirmed yet."

"You must have already thought you were or you wouldn't have gone to the doctor. You felt the same as last time, didn't you?"

Knowing her mother was totally right, she nodded at Rama.

"I don't  _want_ to be. I mean, I do... but I don't want to lose Hiccup."

" _Hiccup?_ Your mystery man is Stoick's boy?"

Oh fuck, Valka hadn't meant to say that. Her mother knew  _everybody_ from their little town, having been visiting Valka there on and off for near twenty years when her husband insisted they move from the even quieter life of their sleepy village she had spent her childhood.

"Yes. And as soon as he finds out, he's going to run a mile."

"You think he won't step up?"

"I meant from  **me.**  I don't doubt he would care for the babe."

Rama eyed her critically, knowing her daughter too well for Valka to really keep secrets.

"You love him."

It wasn't a question. It was a statement of a fact they both knew to be utterly true.

"Yes. I tried not to, but he's so sweet and kind and  _good._ He just rolled in and changed me completely."

Stirring her fresh mug - Rama was at least sixty percent tea, with how much she drunk - her mother tapped her spoon on the side of her stained ceramic mug.

"I'm not going to tell you what to do. But... I think you should tell him. Unless you think he would tell the college?"

"Oh, no. He wouldn't do that. I just... I don't want to ruin his life when its barely even begun."

"You should tell him how you feel about him too. Maybe he'll surprise you."

Valka shook her head vigorously, knowing that wasn't about to happen.

"I won't have him feel guilty for hurting my feelings when he decides he no longer wants to continue our... I don't even know what to call it. No. It was never going to last. It's for the best."

"I do truly wish sometimes that you hadn't inherited both mine  _and_  your fathers stubbornness. Let's turn to other matters, like dinner. We'll talk more of your torrid love affair in the morning."

Valka left her mothers on Sunday, head buzzed with back and forth about what to tell Hiccup but it was truly cathartic to have finally  _talked_ about it with someone who would never turn her in. She hadn't even thought of how to deal with work; assuming she was around four to six weeks as the doctor suspected, she would have a child before the academic year was over. So once she was sure, Valka would have to alert them so they could arrange maternity cover.

**That**  would be an awkward conversation where Valka had to decide whether to be seen as promiscuous or mutter awkwardly about privacy when someone inevitably said "I didn't even know you were seeing anybody!" at the news.

Hiccup gently enquired about her Monday plans on Sunday night, perfectly understanding when she said she had something else on. She didn't, really, but Valka wasn't quite decided what to or not to say to him just yet. Then she promptly regretted it; she missed him so.

Tuesday Hiccup came over, all smiles and kisses as he fed her chocolate cake, then took her to bed and mapped her body with kisses. He guided her on top of him, eyes rapturous on Valka's body as she rode him and endless praise for her spilling from his lips.

Valka waited until he was asleep to cry. She wasn't ready to lose him.

Hiccup noticed the evidence on her cheeks the next morning, frowning as he caressed her face like he always did.

"What's wrong?"

Valka lied.

"Bad dream. I'm fine. We should get up."

"You want to talk about it? We've got a few minutes."

"No no, I'm fine. Honest."

Hiccup kissed her cheek, cuddled her close before letting her out of bed. He was ever the gentleman, let her take the bathroom first. Of course, he also looked lewd and lascivious when he did so, watching her nude body with his morning erection generally quite noticeable as he tossed the blankets aside. Valka scrutinised her reflection after cleansing her face, frowning at the silvery lines starting to show in her hair as she brushed her teeth.

"Valka? Not to be ungentlemanly but will you be long?"

Hiccup called from outside the bathroom while she stared, obviously in need. She slipped her dressing gown back on, hoping to sidle past Hiccup but he caught her.

"What's wrong?"

Valka couldn't lie to him any more.

"I'm going grey."

He actually laughed, scanning her hairline for only a second before returning to her eyes.

"So? Do you think the fact you age is some kind of big secret? I realise this may come as a shock to you, but I'm attracted to you  _as_ an older woman. Not because you look younger than you are, which granted you do, but the fact you're all...  _mature_ is  **highly** appealing to me. Now I  _really_ need to go."

He dashed for the bathroom, door closing before an audible sigh of relief was heard as he presumably relieved himself. Valka shook her head in some disbelief at him; Hiccup frequently told her she was attractive and in fine shape for her age, but he had never described her the way he just did. He barely blinked at the prospect of her greying.

She was still standing, slightly dumbfounded when Hiccup exited the bathroom. As he always did, Hiccup celebrated clean teeth by kissing her with minty fresh breath. Valka felt him still erect against her as he backed her into the wall, hands untying her dressing gown to explore the skin beneath.

"H-hiccup!"

Valka tried to protest as he left her mouth to kiss her neck, but only got as far as gasping his name before fingers were on her clit, others teasing her nipple. She  _wanted_ him so much,  _all_ the time. Hiccup took her there in the hallway, holding her legs up around his hips as he thrust and the flexing of wiry muscles in his arms and shoulders as he supported her weight were a pleasing sight for her eyes.

"Sorry" he panted as they came down, her nails having made rough work of his back by then "I know I'm not meant to risk making you late for work, but you're so damn irresistible and I figured better now than at college."

"I didn't exactly try to stop you."

He chuckled, kissed her and helped her stand on shaking legs.

"I'll make breakfast while you uh, clean up."

Valka had just enough presence of mind to call after him.

"No coffee."

"Oh?"

"I just fancy tea."

Hiccup smiled, nodding as he detoured to her room for his jeans before heading down to the kitchen. Valka was left flustered, fucked and fretting all at once. She cleaned up in the bathroom, skin still flushed and muscles still molten. Hiccup made her scrambled eggs - quick and filling. Then he kissed her bloody stupid again before leaving to go home - he wasn't due in college until later whereas Valka was going to absolutely be late if she didn't stop watching him go.

" _Someone_ was busy last night."

Bertha, the heavy built Food Tech teacher, waggled her huge eyebrows at Valka as she made it to the college just in time to be a few minutes late, placing her lunch in the staff room and blaming car trouble.

"Don't know what you mean."

"Ah. Must have been this morning then. Explains why you're late anyhow. Plus you look a bit flustered."

Valka glared at her colleague, really not wanting anybody overhearing the totally-true but  _totally-private_ reasoning she was late.

"My car wouldn't start. I need it servicing."

"Well if you're getting it your car should too."

Gods, it was too early for Bertha. Much, much too early,  _especially_  for a woman not allowed caffeine for at least nine months.

"Not funny."

"I hear no denials!"

"If I did you wouldn't listen."

"True. Big Bertha knows these things!"

Finally escaping, Valka was nearly ten minutes late and apologised to her class profusely. Luckily, they had gotten right on with that weeks project anyway.

If Valka had been having any doubts about her possible state of pregnancy... the sudden wave of nausea put paid to that and she had to hurriedly excuse herself from the room. If the ladies hadn't only been a short distance away, she might not have made it. That would have been very embarrassing, throwing up on the campus grounds like a hungover teenager.

Rinsing her mouth and face over the sink, Valka looked at her reflection again. Now she looked old  _and_ sick. Perfect.

"Are you ok Val?"

It wasn't Hiccup's class she returned to, but they were equally casual with her as students.

"Yes yes, fine. I apologise for my unprofessional lateness and sudden disappearances."

Cami, one of her students, shook her head and chuckled as she finished a feather on her sketch of an eagle.

"You're human Valka. We can forgive you for that. But if you're sick I'm outta here, I'm not catching anything."

Everyone looked to be in agreement, and while it was horrendously unprofessional of her Valka dismissed the class. The college rumour mill didn't take long to circulate the news to Hiccup, who came to check on her almost as soon as he got to the campus.

"I heard you were ill, what happened? Somebody said you collapsed and were taken away in an ambulance, but he also asked Tuff why they couldn't eat the moon so I  _think_  he was high."

"A distinct possibility. I'm fine now, I just came over a little faint. A rest and some water did me wonders."

Hiccup glanced to check he had closed the door before coming closer, speaking softer.

"I made you breakfast, so I had to be sure I didn't poison you. Plus... I was worried."

"Quite. And I appreciate it, but I'm a big girl Hiccup. I'm fine."

For a second, Valka would have said Hiccup looked  _hurt._ But the flicker was gone before she could even be sure it was there.

"I better get to class. Let me know if you want me come over later or not."

He leant in, kissed her quickly and left before they risked getting caught. Valka watched him go, unsure what it was that felt wrong just then. Probably her lying to him. That never felt quite right.

Nor did avoiding Hiccup, inventing reasons he couldn't spend the night while Valka attempted to find  _something_ that eased her morning sickness. At least it only happened in the morning. It would have been much harder to explain away if she were sick at college again. The next three days until her test results came back were long, lonely. Hiccup was patient and accepting, didn't complain once about her not wanting him over that week and it  _hurt._

"Given that I can smell ginger on you, I suspect this is only confirming what you already know. You are pregnant. Six or seven weeks judging by HCG levels and the fact you've started to exhibit symptoms. Do you need something for morning sickness?"

"You can prescribe something?"

Valka must have looked desperate as her doctor chuckled.

"Well, no guarantees but there's a number of things we can try and most are quite effective."

She left with a referral for an ultrasound to date her pregnancy and due date, a prescription for anti-sickness and a pounding wave of realisation that she was about to be a  _mother._

Valka called her mother that evening to tell her, and to inevitably receive another lecture about telling Hiccup.

"He's going to notice you gaining weight in very specific areas if he sees you naked as often as he has done. Not to mention food cravings, the whole glowing thing and the fact a cool breeze will turn you on when you hit your second trimester."

"Mother!"

"I'm only telling you what you already know. Which includes that he needs to know."

Valka hummed, eyeing the calendar and seeing how much of December had already gotten away from her.

"It's only a little while until Christmas. I'll tell him after that."

"Why?"

"Because... I don't want to ruin his holidays."

She could  _hear_ Rama rolling her eyes.

"You're impossible! But fine. I'll let it drop until then. On one condition."

"Which is?"

"You don't complain about me saying I'll be a grandma over Christmas."

Her mother was  **evil.**  No two ways about it.

"Oh no, that's not fair! You know aunt Helga will never let it go that I'm a harlot having a baby out of wedlock!"

"I didn't mean to everyone you silly girl. I mean to you! Oooh I have to start knitting!"

Rama wittered on excitedly until Valka gave in and ended the call before she lost her mind. She hadn't the heart to remind her mother not to overprepare. They had been prepared last time. Had the nursery all but complete. Picked clothes and toys out, argued over names.

Only to hold a funeral instead.

Valka didn't remember actually calling Hiccup, only remembered his voice saying he would be right over. He didn't push, didn't complain. Just let Valka clutch him tight, held her steady as she cried and cried until the tears began to run out. Then he fetched her water and tissues, gently cleaned her face and rubbed light circles on her throbbing temples.

"Want to tell me what's going on now?"

He asked so gently, and Valka still lied.

"I found out one of my relatives is pregnant. It just sort of... hit a nerve, I suppose."

He kissed her forehead, stroked her jaw.

"That's totally understandable. I still get sad my mom died. These aren't things we ever truly get over, and that's ok."

Hiccup soothed her softly, legs tangled with hers as they cuddled on the sofa.

"Distract me? Tell me about your Christmas plans."

"Alright. I will be spending Christmas day at dads, reminding him that unlike him I cannot fit an entire turkey in my stomach countless times while he and uncle Gobber get drunk."

"That's it?"

"Neither me or Eret or our parents have big extended families. Nor are we huge on Christmas. We eat. Exchange gifts. Spend the day together. His girlfriend might join us... that'll be the only change for ten years now. What about you?"

"Mother and I take turns hosting each other. Depending how much of the family insists on a proper get together."

"Which is it this year?"

"I'm going to mothers."

"Guess I'll just have to use up all my Christmassy innuendos before then. And cancel my plans to slide down your chimney wearing nothing but reindeer antlers."

No matter what, Hiccup could always make her laugh.

"I'm sure my mother would have appreciated that."

"Yeah, that woulda been a tad awkward to explain. Luckily, I'm twenty one. I could always blame alcohol."

"Despite the fact you don't really drink?"

"Exactly! I won't forget my story. Anyway, you milady look rather tired. Shall I put you to bed?"

"Only if you'll be in it."

"When do I ever turn down cuddling? Lets go."

Valka wished she had waited to test her morning sickness reliever before inviting Hiccup overnight. She barely managed to hide the sounds behind a running shower, forcing tablets, water and ginger down her throat before brushing her teeth thoroughly. After a quick wash to remove sweat from her skin, Valka felt less nauseous and safe to head back out.

Only to find Hiccup holding her ultrasound letter.

"I didn't go looking, it fell off the fridge when I was getting milk."

Valka must have shoved it out of the way to deal with later when she called her mother.

"I... I um-"

She found herself tongue tied, and Hiccup looked between her and the letter three times before he answered.

"Were you ever planning on telling me?"

Valka could nod honestly. She had.

"After Christmas."

"Why then? Why not as soon as you knew?"

He looked tense, distraught. All her fears were coming to fruition before her eyes.

"I only had it confirmed yesterday. And... I didn't want to"

The rest of her sentence came out unintelligible even to her.

"You what?"

"I didn't want to ruin your Christmas."

Hiccup frowned, putting the letter back up on the fridge almost mechanically.

"Ok... dial back. How long have you suspected you were pregnant?" he faltered, clearly thinking "was it before, when I thought you were early?"

Valka nodded, remembering that niggle in her head that wouldn't go away.

"When you left I went straight to the pharmacy and bought a test. Well, actually I bought two. Both positive."

She really ought to shut up. But Valka didn't seem able to.

"And you didn't tell me because?"

"I wanted to be sure. So I went to the doctors... that was why I called in sick at work that day."

"And now you're totally sure, yes?"

"My blood came back positive for human chorionic gonadotropin. Better known as hCG, the hormone pregnancy tests respond to. Short of the ultrasound you know I haven't had yet, there isn't a way to be more sure."

"Ok..." Hiccup shuffled his feet awkwardly, then finished making the drinks he had started before the hot water cooled "so, question one. Are you keeping it?"

"You think I wouldnt?"

Hiccup shrugged, held out tea to her.

"Just checking, it would render further conversation pointless if you weren't."

Point taken, Valka accepted the mug.

"Yes, I am."

"Ok. Good. Question two. Do you want me involved?"

"And if I didn't?"

His breath hitched. His eyes were wet.

"I would be utterly devastated to be honest. And I couldn't even go through legal channels to fight it, because then you would lose your job."

Hiccup would choose his own heartbreak over costing her her job. He was too much.

"Hiccup, I wouldn't stop you seeing them. Ever. I just... I don't want you to feel  _obligated._ "

"You're lying."

"I'm sorry?"

When he finally looked at her again, he looked...  _angry._ Valka had never seen him that way, not really.

"You're lying to me. That's not it at all. You think I'm too young for this. In fact, I bet I can guess the entire path you decided all alone while I had no idea."

He paced, jaw set and what Valka could only assume was an angry tear rolled down his cheek to drop from his chin.

"You think I'm too young. But you don't think I'm a bad guy. I'll be around, I'll step up and be a father. But I'm not  **happy**  about it, not properly. My life hadn't started yet and now its forever tied to a child. So you reassure me I only have to be as involved as I want. At first, that's all the time and everything seems like it'll be just fine. But I'm just a young man, and one day I'll meet a nice girl my own age and we'll want to start a family, and I won't have time for the accident baby, the  _mistake_ you and I had. So it'll just be the two of you, like you always expected right?"

Valka couldn't look at him. She was trying too hard not to cry, shoulders shaking and tears escaping.

"Yes!"

"Look at me!"

She wiped her face, dragged her eyes up to his. He looked desolate.

"How could you think so little of me? I thought you knew me better... that I meant more than that to you."

"I-I don't. Gods Hiccup" she wiped her face again, throat thick with emotions clogging her words up "I  _have_  to think that! Don't you see? I have to be prepared for the fact that one day I'll lose you."

Hiccup surged across the room, kissed Valka so hard she forgot she was crying. Couldn't tell who's tears she could taste as he pinned her.

"You bloody  _stupid_  woman!"

Hiccup kissed her again before Valka could protest, though she could swear he was smiling as he did it.

"You impossible...  _mad_  woman!"

"What did I do?"

Hiccup cupped her cheeks, ignoring how awful she must look after crying.

"Did it never occur to you" kiss "not even once" kiss "that I might be thrilled?"

It was very difficult to speak in turn when Hiccup kept kissing the air from her lungs. It was hard to think when he was pressed so close to her.

"N-no. I couldn't dare dream that way."

"Why not?"

"Because..." Valka didn't want to bare her heart the way he was asking, but it was too late; he was too deep under her skin "because I was falling for you. And I couldn't bear to hope."

Before she could wriggle free to die of shame, Hiccup was kissing her again. Fingers in her stupid greying hair, thumbs swiping treacherous tears from her cheeks. He kissed her until she was dizzy, then a little more for good measure. His breath was hot on her face as they parted, panting himself but somehow able to speak while she was kept standing only by his body holding hers up.

"I repeat. Stupid woman. Did you really think there was never a chance I wanted more than sex from you?"

"Frankly? Yes. I'm seventeen years your senior. I'm your  _teacher_ for another seven and a half months. I'm divorced. One day I'll not be able to keep up with you."

Hiccup's next words almost floored her.

"And I will love you then as I do now. Probably more."

"You- I-  _what?"_

"I love you, you impossible idiot. I love you when you fidget in your sleep and your hair ends up over everything. I love you when you teach, when you paint. I love you even when you steal my cake. I adore everything about you."

It couldn't be true... Valka couldn't have come  _so close_ to ruining all of this could she?

"Then why not say something?"

"You're always bringing up how young I am. I worried you would always consider me too immature to be serious with... so I settled for what we had. Because that was pretty damn spectacular. Guess the little one had other ideas about letting us live in ignorance, huh?"

"Are you still going to want me when I'm fat and grumpy and eating icecream by the tub?"

"You mean will I still adore you as you carry  _our baby?_ Damn fucking straight I will. Hel, I'll go out at 3am to four different open-all-nights to find the right flavour if it'll make you smile."

Valka wanted to believe all of it, she truly did. But there was a major point to bring up.

"And when I can't have sex? Or even don't want it?"

Hiccup actually chuckled, hands sliding down her arms to link their fingers.

"I have hands. I can buy a toy if I'm real hard up. My ego will survive. And there will a teeny tiny human to take care of. Will you stop trying to create reasons why I shouldn't want you and love you, and just accept that I do? We can work out the rest along the way."

He was incredibly hard to say no to.

"Alright."

"Thank you."

"Hiccup?"

"Yes?"

"Take me to bed."

He smirked, gripping her hand tightly.

"Your wish is my command."

It took a while for them to actually  _reach_  the bedroom, on account of Hiccup periodically pinning her to walls and stairs and doorframes to kiss her senseless. Her tunic-shirt was left somewhere on the staircase, Hiccup's jumper on the floor by the spare room. He reached for her hair tie before they got on the bed, freeing her hair and running fingers gently through it.

"You are so beautiful. You're smart and sexy and  _strong,_ and you made me feel human again."

Hiccup murmured against her neck, fingers stroking down her spine to dip beneath her skirts waistband.

"What do you mean?"

"Before you my life was just a cycle of walk Toothless, work with dad and stay at home. If I didn't live with Eret, I would have been alone a  _lot_ of the time. I was always afraid to get close to people, to show my scars inside and out. You fit into all my broken parts and made me whole again."

He had always seemed so vibrant, but then Valka supposed she had only seem him surrounded by art or mostly-alone with her. Maybe that was all that brought him out of that shell.

"You crept under my skin and changed me completely."

"I didn't change a thing Valka. I just showed you who you already were. And was lucky enough to reap the benefits of your self discovery."

Any further argument was silenced by his lips on hers, fingers slowly working the rest of her clothes off. Valka whined in protest, urged at his until Hiccup shed his t-shirt, dropped his jeans. Before he tumbled them to the bed, Hiccup looked up at her face again.

"Hows your morning sickness? I don't want to jostle you."

Hardly romantic, and yet the fact he asked was rather wonderful.

"Only really a problem first thing, I'm feeling quite wonderful right now."

"Sore anywhere?"

"No."

"Good."

Hiccup placed hands just above her thighs, boosted Valka onto the bed and descended on the body clad only in cotton briefs with all his usual eagerness. Gods had she missed him, and how she adored knowing he wanted her too. Not for fun. For  _real._

Odin, she hadn't even told him yet.

"Hiccup!"

Her voice changed pitch as Hiccup bit down gently on her neck, threatening to mark but stopping just short.

"Yeah?"

"I love you too."

His answering smile was blinding, the heat of his kiss blistering as he sealed their mouths together and buried his fingers in her hair.

"You're perfect."

Spectacularly skilled in the art of preventing Valka from arguing with him, Hiccup had fingers pressed to her clit before she could formulate a rebuttal. Words were lost to a needy whine as he touched damp fabric, stroked her the way he knew would make her squirm and pant. She could feel him hard against her thigh, needed him inside her as soon as possible.

Valka tugged at his boxers, Hiccup thankfully taking the wordless hint and shucking them. Her underwear joined his in being discarded on the floor, bodies bare against each other as Hiccup nudged her further up the bed until she reclined on the pillows. She reached for him; Hiccup responded by leaning closer so Valka could grab his shoulders, latch on to his mouth.

"Need you."

Her breathless plea was answered swiftly, Hiccup brushing fingers between her thighs to check she was ready before pressing closer, lifting her leg up around his hip to open her up to him. He filled her perfectly, his cock sliding home within her until both were trembling, reaching to anchor themselves against the other. They'd been having sex for months; now they were making love and it was a whole new realm of intense.

"Fuck I love you Valka."

Hiccup breathed the words over her mouth, kissed her as she wrapped her legs around him properly, held his lean body tight against hers. Valka buried her hands in his hair, kissed him in return.

"I love you too."

He smiled, gasped as she shifted slightly to cradle him better. Gone were any nerves between them, both wearing their scars with a pride only to be shared with the other. Hiccup's hand caressed a breast, gentling in case she was sore before continuing on down her waist to squeeze at a soft hip.

His first thrusts took her breath away, the next ensuring she never quite got it back. Hiccup made her moan, buck, arch and thrash shamelessly, losing any care for how wanton and desperate she looked now she knew - he was there for all that, he  _wanted_ her uninhibited passions and worked hard to earn them from her.

Valka gave herself to him again and again, and Hiccup never abused that trust. Their bodies twined tighter, his chest against her breasts as his hips rocked and rolled into her with deep, steady thrusts that lit Valka on fire. It was a slow burn, spreading heat to to the tips of her fingers and toes until she was molten, putty in his hands.

Knowing fingers slid around her sweaty thigh, pressed against her clit as Hiccup's thrusts moved a little quicker; he was close, wanted her to peak before he lost himself to her body. Valka smirked up at him, squeezed tight around him and Hiccup growled as he realised it was intentional. He tugged her hand free of it's white-knuckle grip on the bedframe, guided her own fingers to her clit and Valka shuddered at the feelings inspired.

"S-say it."

Valka would have been embarrassed of her request if she weren't so close it hurt, the climax lingering just out of reach. Hiccup responded to her instantly, leaning down and biting lightly at the shell of her ear before whispering.

"I love you."

She broke, quaked and clung to him as the pleasure tore through her, made her go to pieces while Hiccup held her together. Watching her rarely failed to bring Hiccup alongside her to pure bliss, and today was no different as he came with a choked growl of primal pleasure.

Sheets twisted around sweaty limbs, Valka panted and trembled as Hiccup hauled her against his rapidly moving chest, kissed her damp hairline and smiled as she burrowed closer. She wasn't losing him; everything was very very  _good_ right now.

"You are a truly remarkable woman Valka."

"Mmm."

Hiccup chuckled at her lazy hum of "I'm not talking or moving ever again", stroking her sweaty back.

"Thank you, by the way."

"For?"

His hand trailed down and around, long fingers resting against her belly.

"Best Christmas gift ever."

"My mother is terribly excited."

It was remarkable he heard her, her words all but spoken right into his chest.

"She's not the only one. My dad will be thrilled to bits. And I'm already excited."

"Seriously?"

Hiccup nodded eagerly as Valka cracked open an eye to peer up at him.

"Yep. Because there are two things I am very,  _very_  sure of."

Valka regretfully sat up a little more, looked at her... boyfriend? properly.

"Which are?"

Hiccup rolled them, legs tangling with hers as he kissed her.

"You are going to be an amazing mother. And from one artist to another... I reckon we'll make a masterpiece."

-HTTYD-

**This has been such a fun experiment in new dynamics, but alas! It is time to move on.**


End file.
